UNU-WIDER Seminar: Global Crisis and the Impact on Emerging Economies by Kaushik Basu
Channel: UNU-WIDER
Date: 2012-12-19

After seeming to weather the initial shock from the Great Recession well, emerging economies faced a sharp slowdown from 2011, raising interesting questions about the nature of coupling and decoupling of economies. Economic growth in the developing world is expected to be in the 5 to 6 per cent range this year and next. But a lot will depend on what happens in the eurozone and EU countries. The on-going fiscal consolidation, high unemployment and very weak consumer and business confidence in the euroarea, as well as the weakness in Japan's export-dependent industrial sector, continue to weigh on global economic activity. In addition, Kaushik Basu will argue that there are various debt cliffs looming on the eurozone horizon that we ought to take early note of. There is a natural propensity on our part to look away from unpleasant problems till they are too close, as happened in the case of the USA 'fiscal cliff'. But it is imperative to gaze into the future to prepare ourselves better for what is likely in store for us. This is especially important for emerging economies and vulnerable developing countries.

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