Economic performance in the United States was weaker than expected in the first quarter of 2014, even though it outpaced that of Europe and Japan, both of which are struggling to cross a moderate 1 per cent annualised growth threshold. Economic growth is also slowing in the larger emerging market economies.
China, the second largest economy, is slowing below the government’s growth target, and this is likely to lead to a drag on the global recovery, giving credence to the trending metaphor – when China sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold. Of course, that used to be said of the U.S.