Global economy could lose $5.5trn – more than the GDP of Japan

Cumulative GDP losses to the global economy to the end of 2021 could reach $5.5trn, more than the entire GDP of Japan.

Wuhan’s experience suggests people remain cautious after a lockdown © Getty

Markets enjoyed a happier Easter than the real economy. US equities staged their biggest weekly rally in 45 years with a 12% gain last week. Global stocks delivered their best weekly gains since 2008. The FTSE 100 rose by nearly 8%. Stockmarkets have recouped half of their losses since the slump began in February.

Financial markets appear “positively sanguine that a revival is near,” writes Randall Forsyth in Barron’s. The rebound implies a short recession followed by a quick recovery. Yet we are living through a “collapse of historic proportions”. Nearly 17 million Americans have lost their jobs in the past three weeks.

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.