*  *  *  Growth in the world economy was weaker than expected in the 1st half of 2012 and declined further over the summer. It now looks as if global growth this year and next year will be lower than expected in the spring.
Not only the European economies have slowed down, but also major emerging economies such as Brazil, China and India – which have until now been surprisingly resilient to the crisis. This development is reflected in world trade, which has flattened out since the turn of the year.