What next for the world economy?

Major global economies have been recovering from lockdowns more quickly than expected, but are we poised for a “V”, “U” or “W-shaped” recovery?

Trumpists protesting against wearing masks
The surge in cases in the US is the main threat to global growth © Getty
(Image credit: © Karen Ducey/Getty Images)

There is little consensus about which way the economy is heading as we embark on the second half of the year, says Lisa Beilfuss for Barron’s. Analysts have spent the last few months arguing over whether we are poised for a “V”, “U” or “W-shaped” recovery. More inventive types talk of “a Nike swoosh” and “a reverse square-root sign”.

Major global economies have been recovering from lockdowns more quickly than expected, says Jonathan Allum in The Blah! newsletter. US employment remains in a hole, but news that a better-than-expected 4.8 million jobs returned in June suggests that things are on the way back to normal. Not to overdo the “horticultural metaphors”, but we have our “green shoots”, the question now is whether they will manage to grow into “fully fledged plants”.

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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.