Global depression
Jobs have been lost, industries have halted, the production lines and businesses have gone bust and economies are crashing at a rate not seen on a scale this big for a century.
2008 saw the last global crisis, but it wasnt this big, and it was induced solely by the actions of one sector, namely the banking industry, today. We are seeing a whole new game, a crashed caused by a virus.
The impact has swept across the globe in a wave format from East to West, and with Europe being in the centre, it has faced some tragic consequences, from loss of life, to businesses leaving people turning to the state for sustenance.
This is a special two part edition, in which well be looking at the concept of the world falling into a new Great Depression, starting first with Europe. There is no doubt the world is heading for tough economic times ahead, with many words being floated about, from recession to depression. So what exactly is the difference, well, a recession is when a country sees two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth hit its economy, namely, a six month negative growth rate. A depression however is measured in years, and if like the great depression in 1929, could last as long as a decade.
The Eurozone, which is essentially the EU trading zone is predicted to see a 11.4% drop in its GDP in the second quarter of 2020 according to figures released in Germany. Put into numbers, the EUs current GDP is around 19 trillion Euro, an 11.4% contraction would equate to €2.166 Trillion Euro!
The GDP of the US is equivalent to the EU or thereabouts at $19.5 trillion, but the loss that the EU sets out to lose is a shocking figure, and is in fat equivalent or more to the entire GDPs of Brazil, Italy, Russia and South Korea, or even more startling, as much as the GDPs of Austria.
Norway, the UAE and Nigeria combined! Italy in particular is appears to be the weakest link in the EU, with the country already having seen 4 recessions in the last decade. The UK, now longer part of the EU is also on a huge economic downturn, with the retail and production industry also seeing recessions hit hard where it hurts the most, namely, on the people.
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