IMF Prediction 4/17/20

This week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted that “StayHome” orders and “lockdowns” around the world are likely to create the worst global recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

“It is very likely that this year the global economy will experience its worst recession since the Great Depression, surpassing that seen during the global financial crisis a decade ago..” said IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath on Tuesday, in a World Economic Outlook statement. “The Great Lockdown, as one might call it, is projected to shrink global growth dramatically.“

“As a result of the pandemic,” wrote the IMF Chief Economist, “the global economy is projected to contract sharply by -3 percent in 2020, much worse than during the 2008-09 financial crisis.“

Dire news indeed, for not only Americans, but people around the world. This pandemic is causing damage to economies and people on a scale not seen since WWII.

Government responses so far have been slow, moving at the snail’s pace of bureaucracy. Will any significant amount of government financial help actually reach the people who need it in time to do any good?