
Daniel Griswold
The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank’s three rounds of quantitative easing and near-zero target for the federal funds rate have not provided the promised stimulus. The idea that dramatically expanding the Fed’s balance sheet and rapidly increasing the monetary base would revitalize the real economy is a fantasy. Printing fiat money does not lead to economic growth.
U.S. economic growth dipped 2.9 percent in the first quarter of 2014 and is unlikely to exceed 2 percent this year. Projections for the European Union (EU), at 1.6 percent, and Emerging Markets, at 4.9 percent, also remain low, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Nevertheless, Emerging Market projections are considerably higher than the United States’. Consequently, for many U.S. firms interested in higher returns, international expansion is essential.
The court-ordered removal of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on the grounds of abuse of power proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the troubled PTP government that came to power on a wave of popular optimism in 2011. Growing street protests and clashes between the red-shirted supporters of the PTP (and exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra) and their yellow-shirted opponents threatened to trigger an escalating cycle of violence.
In 2013, U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), at $16.8 trillion, was nearly twice China’s $9 trillion, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But when adjusting for Purchasing Power Parity, which is estimated to reflect the “real cost of living” across countries, China’s economy is projected to surpass the United States’ later this year, says the International Comparison Program (ICP). Is this realistic?
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