Japan had and annualized -1.6 percent GDP growth for the third quarter of 2014 and -7.1 percent in the second quarter. These two quarters of negative growth puts Japan in a recession. The first quarter showed an increase of 6.7 percent. This will likely accelerate demands for even more monetary easing.
According to Davy Research, the bulk of the decline was caused by business destocking, a temporary response to the dip in consumer spending in the second quarter.
Japan is a big producer of machinery used in Chinese factories. That is stoking some concern that China may have slowed down its order rate, raising questions about China’s 7 percent GDP.
A sharp slowdown in Asia and stagnation in Europe are putting the global economy at risk of a prolonged slump, economists say, marked in places by sky-high unemployment, sluggish wage growth and some of the worst economic conditions in decades.
Japan has entered its fourth recession in six years.
Two of the world’s economic powerhouses — Europe and Japan — are failing to bolster global growth, and their economies appear to be getting worse. With an unemployment rate of 11.5 percent, the euro zone is experiencing conditions that some economists say echo the Great Depression.
Russia and Brazil have been dogged by recession.
British Prime Minister Cameron described the euro zone as “teetering on the brink of a possible third recession, with high unemployment, falling growth and the real risk of falling prices too.
India, Britain and the United States have been among the world’s bright spots. U.S. job growth has been steady for a full year, and unemployment is back to pre-crisis levels. With oil prices plummeting, economists said even a recession in Europe probably would not knock the United States off track.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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