Bulletin on Asia-Pacific perspectives 2001/02 : Asia-Pacific economies : coping with new uncertainties
Abstract
Although evidence of a sharp slowdown in the economy of the United States of America and an interruption in the recovery of the Japanese economy had emerged in late 2000, the consensus was that only a modest deceleration in the rate of growth of the global economy was to be expected from these developments in 2001. Moreover, ESCAP member countries would remain largely unaffected by any deceleration given the resilience of the regional economy. In the event, the slowdown in the United States has turned out to be much sharper than predicted and its adverse impact on the ESCAP region has been very severe. Furthermore,
recovery has petered out in Japan and the slowdown is now becoming apparent even in the European Union (EU) so that this could be the most geographically synchronized since before the Second World War. The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 are likely to intensify the global downturn in the short term through a major loss of business and consumer confidence in the United States and elsewhere. The extent of the global slowdown and its impact on the developing countries are likely to remain uncertain for some time. Nonetheless, several issues of critical importance arise for the ESCAP region.
recovery has petered out in Japan and the slowdown is now becoming apparent even in the European Union (EU) so that this could be the most geographically synchronized since before the Second World War. The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 are likely to intensify the global downturn in the short term through a major loss of business and consumer confidence in the United States and elsewhere. The extent of the global slowdown and its impact on the developing countries are likely to remain uncertain for some time. Nonetheless, several issues of critical importance arise for the ESCAP region.
