Can The US Record Another Decade of Uninterrupted Growth?
The buoyancy of stock markets around the world suggests a global economy that is functioning well. In terms of economic growth this is true. The United States experienced a decade of uninterrupted economic in the 1990s and, with the briefest of interludes, has almost completed another six years of continuous growth. During the past six years economic growth outside the United States has been an even stronger picture due in large part to structural change in China but also in Japan and more recently Europe. This pattern of economic growth seems set to continue for the remainder of this year and next. This assumption is validated by the interest rate futures markets. Having begun the year assuming that interest rates in the United States would be cut this year by at least 50 basis points, the markets are now suggesting no change in interest rates through to the end of 2008. In Europe and Japan interest rates are expected to maintain a steady upward path. Does this mean that the US econom
