IMF Says Advanced Economies Already in Depression

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Advanced economies are already in a "depression" and the financial crisis may deepen unless the banking system is fixed, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said.

“The worst cannot be ruled out,” Strauss-Kahn said in Kuala Lumpur, where he was attending a gathering of central bankers from Southeast Asia. “There’s a lot of downside risk.”

Ten days ago, the IMF cut its world-growth estimate for this year to 0.5 percent, the weakest pace since World War II. Stimulus packages alone won’t succeed in dragging the global economy out of recession unless confidence is restored in the banking system, Strauss-Kahn said today.

“All this will work if, and only if, the different countries are likely to do what they have to do in terms of restructuring the banking sector,” he said. “And today it’s not done.”

The U.S. economy has lost 3.57 million jobs since a recession started in December 2007, its biggest employment slump of any economic contraction in the postwar period as companies from Macy’s Inc. to Caterpillar Inc. cut costs. The U.K. economy will shrink this year by the most since 1946, the IMF forecasts.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a6aaWZ8ab8yU&refer=home

[tabatha]

1. I am looking for a graphic

that shows the red and blue economies of republican and democratic US admins.

I had one, but lost the link. I think there are two I have seen on DU.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Earth_First]

11. Could this be the graph you are looking for?

[tabatha]

13. Thanks - but I can't seem to open the image.

Do you have a link?

[Turborama]

16. There's also, this one...?

[PDJane]

2. The IMF

is part of what got us into this mess in the first damn place; it's been a tool of American policy from the beginning.

[Runcible Spoon]

4. exactly~!

how disingenuous for those slimy fuckers to weigh in now.

[sam sarrha]

3. will the Bilderburgers make Poppy smother the Shrub with a pillow..?

[dgibby]

5. No, if anything, they'll wine and dine him.

It's hard to have a New World Order,etc, when there is such wide economic disparty among nations. Easiest way to solve the problem is to destroy the economies of the richest nations, level the playing field by turning the entire world into a banana republic ruled by the "Masters of the Universe". I seriously doubt that this happened in a vaccum. My motto is: Follow the Money. (I know, I know, WHAT money?!!!).

[Hannah Bell]

12. i agree. not the first case of a planned downturn in history.

[No Elephants]

6. Notice how certain sources say since "World

War II," when what they actually mean is "since the Great Depression." The economy was NOT weak during World War II.

[Spider Jerusalem]

15. but there was a large contraction in employment in 1945...

with the end of war production and the need for workers in war factories.

[Downwinder]

7. Recessions and depressions are natural realignments.

When prices reach a parity with wages or if wages are raised to a parity with prices the economy will recover. Since 1972 reducing wages has been the answer to control inflation. It has finally gotten to a breaking point. Based on price change since 1960, minimum wage now should be $15.00 per hour.

[PDJane]

8. There was nothing natural about it.

It was caused, and not by an invisible hand.

Natural disasters are not predictable; this was.

[tama]

14. It's all material

predicted by historical materialism & dialectics. Ie., happening pretty much the way marxist economics predicts.

Also conspirasies are caused, by aggregates of materialistic causes.

But those of the Austrian school and influenced by it, who justify this bad dream of capitalism (boom and bust etc.) by calling it natural, meaning inevitable determinism, I have to say this: also creativity, spirit of creativity and compassion is natural - another world is possible. Waking up from this nightmere into another world does not take much, only sound understanding of the causes making it thus and courage to face them as they are. It's all just lies, waking up from this nightmere requires that we stop lying to ourselves. Greed is not good, it's a mortal sin.

[w4rma]

9. Why is the banking system in trouble? The banks were plundered and now the plunderers expect to have

these same banks bailed out, without new regulations, so that they can plunder them again and move that money to Swiss/Caymen Islands/overseas bank accounts. And buy a villa in France.

[TacticalPeek]

10. Yep, this one's different.

Sry this jumped so big.