The least ugly economy

Washington

AMONG the world's major economies, America's is "the least ugly", as Adam Posen, head of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, puts it. So it is. The American economy is plodding along at about a 2 per cent annual growth rate, which is much slower than most past periods, but compared with most other economies, looks stellar.

Peterson economist Paolo Mauro projects that the euro area (the 19 countries using the euro) will grow only 1.5 per cent in 2016. Japan's projected growth in 2016 is a mere 0.4 per cent. By the numbers, China still shines. But its growth, 10 per cent only a few years ago, has decelerated rapidly. It's projected at 6.4 per cent in 2016 and could be much lower - if the economy experiences a "hard landing".