After the G-20 meeting in Seoul, The Post asked economists to assess the outlook for the global economy. Below are responses from Mark Zandi.
The global economy's prospects hinge on one key factor: policymakers' ability to avoid protectionism. If they are able to avoid erecting barriers to trade, investment and immigration, then prospects will be bright. If not, the fragile global recovery will come undone.
So far, so good. Global policymakers' arguably most important achievement during the Great Recession has been avoiding the kinds of trade and currency wars that contributed to the Great Depression. This is even more laudable given the intensifying political pressures fueled by near double-digit global unemployment.
On the window, there is a plant which is so ordinary that nobody knows its name. I bought it from a street vendor four months ago. I remember it rained on that afternoon. On the way home from work, I saw its green leaves sparkling with crystal drops of water, quite lovely. I brought it home happily with the zest for life. After the nurturing of a spring, the branches has grew from the ones with scattered leaves to that with spreading leaves.
