Global Economy Nearing a “Structural Recession”

[marmar]

Global Economy Nearing a “Structural Recession”
by Wolf Richter • September 10, 2015

[font color="blue"]And monetary policies will be “ineffective”[/font]


To the never-ending astonishment of our economists, global growth has been much weaker since the Financial Crisis than before it, despite enormous global stimulus from years of extreme central-bank monetary policies and record amounts of government deficit spending.

This should not have happened, according to our economists. Fiscal stimulus and expansionary monetary policies beget economic growth, which beget even more economic growth. That’s the theory. And that’s precisely what hasn’t happened. All it did was inflate asset prices. But the global economy has been a dud.

“If we calculated global growth with China’s true growth rate and not the official rate, global growth in the second quarter of 2015 would be only 2%,” figured Natixis, the investment bank of France’s second largest megabank, Groupe BPCE.

This “sluggish growth, close to a recession, is due to persistent, structural causes; we therefore use the term ‘structural recession’ to show that it does not have a cyclical origin,” the report explained. It’s not caused by normal cyclical fluctuations, but by “persistent structural problems that are specific to each region.” .....................(more)

http://wolfstreet.com/2015/09/10/global-economy-near-a-noncyclical-structural-recession/

[chervilant]

1. My neighbor gives me grief

because I've been stockpiling staple foods and heirloom seeds. I'd rather be able to eat through the coming year, if things go as badly as I anticipate.

[cantbeserious]

3. It Will Never Be As Bad As Our Fears - Nor Ever As Good As Our Dreams

eom

[chervilant]

5. I anticipate significant increases

in the prices of staples, including flour and coffee. I think there will be shortages of some items I use often -- as a Vegan, I eat a lot of TVP, and I buy organic and non-GMO whenever possible.

We're already seeing significant increases in food prices. I don't think it's woo to anticipate more expensive food and more frequent shortages.

BTW, I and several of my neighbors have experienced a marked decrease in the amount of produce we've gotten from our gardens. Don't know why -- just hopeful that this isn't a trend.

[cantbeserious]

9. All Good Points

eom

[peacebird]

7. I agree with you. I buy my meat from a local farmer once a year, so when I went to market

At the in laws in another state I nearly choked at the price of beef! I checked here when I got home and it wasn't a fluke.
We have staple food & flour in freezer, and heirloom seeds as well. But it has been so dry this year my veggies produced next to nothing. Rainbarrels are empty.

[chervilant]

10. One of my clients has been stressing about the price of meat.

She buys very lean ground chuck from the one grocery in our little town that still produces and grinds its own meat. The last package she bought cost over $14.00, and it was only two and a half pounds.

She's a very good cook, and she tries to make the most of her high dollar items. But, if meat keeps going up, she'll be eating a lot less.

[cantbeserious]

2. Ivory Tower Academics Disconnected From Reality

eom

[WinkyDink]

4. Henry Ford knew how to sell cars. Today's "investor class" wants no employees, only profit. Now, who

is buying? Who can buy? Billionaires alone cannot make a country's economy strong.

[peacebird]

6. ^^^this^^^

[House of Roberts]

8. The game of Monopoly has a lesson.

When one player has all the money, commerce stops.