Amidst a recent upsurge of happy talk about economic "green shoots," the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a sober reminder this week in the form of its Quarterly National Accounts figures (pdf) showing that the global recession deepened in the first quarter, while the New York Review of Books published a forum, "The Crisis and How to Deal with It" with Bill Bradley, Niall Ferguson, Paul Krugman, Nouriel Roubini, George Soros, and Robin Wells. It was from an April 30 panel discussion, but things have not improved so much as to render it outdated. Indeed, Huffington Post just published a followup report on the "American families" featured in his 30-minute campaign ad. They've yet to see any real help from his presidency. And while they are still patient and trusting towards him, the collective picture is not encouraging.
OECD first:
Gross domestic product (GDP) in the OECD area fell by 2.1% in the first quarter of 2009, the largest fall since OECD records began in 1960, according to preliminary estimates, and followed a fall of 2.0% of GDP in the previous quarter.
In the United States GDP fell by 1.6% in the first quarter of 2009, the same rate as in the previous quarter. Japan's GDP declined by 4.0%, following a 3.8% decrease in the previous quarter. GDP in the euro area was down 2.5%, following a 1.6% fall in the previous quarter.
Of the Major Seven* countries, only in France, where GDP fell 1.2%, did the rate of contraction ease in the first quarter.
Compared with the same quarter a year earlier, all the Major Seven* economies recorded a fall in GDP, and a marked deterioration on the previous quarter's year-on-year figures.
The United States contributed 0.9% to the total OECD fall of 4.2% between the first quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. Japan contributed 1.0%, the euro area (13 countries) 1.3%, and the remaining countries 1.0%.
* "Major Seven" and other groups of countries defined at end of diary.
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