1989 was another highly satisfactory year for the industrialised countries, with real gross national product growing by an average of around 31/2%. Performance differed from one country to another, however, with the USA beginning to lag behind. Is this the harbinger of a general slowdown in growth?

After a three-year slowdown in the world economy, unemployment in the industrial countries is again almost as high as at the end of the recession in the early eighties. Any improvement will be dependent on a distinct resurgence of economic activity. With the recovery in the USA gaining greater...

The upswing in the world economy has lost momentum surprisingly fast. A slowdown in growth in North America had been expected, but the budding hopes in Japan and Western Europe for a continued recovery in utilisation of capacity and employment were disappointed. Are there grounds for such hopes...

1982 was yet another year of international economic disappointment. The frequently forecast gradual recovery of demand and production during the course of the second half of the year did not materialise. In fact, Western Europe once again experienced another pronounced downturn. However, at...