Will Japan lead the worldwide economy to the promised land?
While all eyes have been on the US economy over the last few months, with an assumption that it would be the US economy which would bring the worldwide economy out of recession, perhaps the Japanese recovery will be the catalyst for improvements around the world?
It has been revealed that economic growth of 0.9% was seen in the second quarter of 2009 in Japan when compared to the first quarter. When you consider that Japanese gross domestic product fell by an enormous 13.1% (on an annualised basis) in the final quarter of 2008 the recovery was as sharp as it was unexpected. Japan now joins the likes of France and Germany as the only major developed economies around the world to confirm at least one quarter of growth in their local economies. So where does this leave the UK?
While some experts had expected the UK to be amongst one of the first economies to pull out of recession this has not been the case and there are concerns, such as those relayed by the Bank of England last week, the situation is still fairly unstable. However, if the Japanese recovery continues and Europe becomes stronger then the US market will also turn upwards in due course and ultimately drive the UK out of recession. It is still very early days for the worldwide economy but slowly the signs appear to be improving.
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