‘Countries are defying gravity’: how much longer can global economy resist chaos?
Source: The Guardian ·
Sky-high oil prices and geopolitical turmoil have made less of a dent than feared … just don’t bank on it to lastInside the vast, glass-walled Queen Sirikit conference centre in Bangkok, the air-conditioned atmosphere was calm as policymakers from more than 100 countries gathered this week for the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting – and contemplated the surprising strength of the…
From the source
Inside the vast, glass-walled Queen Sirikit conference centre in Bangkok, the air-conditioned atmosphere was calm as policymakers from more than 100 countries gathered this week for the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting – and contemplated the surprising strength of the global economy. A small army of smiling, uniformed Thai staff were on hand to explain the baffling geography of the heavily guarded building, where lunch options were as cosmopolitan as the delegates – including, improbably, a Burger King. “Resilience” was the buzzword at one event after another, after six months in which sky-high oil prices and geopolitical chaos have made less of a dent in the global economy than first feared. Growth has not fallen off a cliff, buoyed up by the AI investment boom; stock markets haven’t crashed. “We had Covid, the war in Ukraine, supply-chain shocks, the war in Iran, and the alarm bells go off. And yet we haven’t had that massive synchronised crisis. So I think there’s this…