10  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Table 2 International scenario assumptions 2013  2014 (f)  Jun.14 Report  Sep.14 Report  Dec.14 Report  Growth  2015 (f)  Jun.14 Report  Sep.14 Report  Dec.14 Report  2016 (f)  Sep.14 Report  Dec.14 Report  (annual change, percent)  Trading partners' GDP  3.5  3.6  3.4  3.2  3.9  3.8  3.5  3.9  3.9  World GDP at PPP  3.1  3.3  3.2  3.2  3.7  3.7  3.5  4.1  3.9  United States Eurozone Japan China India Rest of Asia (excl. Japan, China and Ind Latin America (excl. Chile)  2.2 -0.4 1.6 7.7 5.0 3.9 2.3  2.4 1.0 1.6 7.3 5.4 4.1 2.0  2.1 0.8 1.0 7.3 5.4 4.0 1.7  2.3 0.8 0.3 7.4 5.6 3.6 1.1  3.1 1.7 1.0 7.2 6.2 4.4 3.0  3.0 1.7 1.5 7.2 6.2 4.5 2.6  3.0 1.0 1.3 7.1 6.3 4.3 1.9  3.2 1.8 1.2 7.0 6.5 4.8 3.3  3.1 1.5 1.4 6.9 6.5 4.8 3.0  LME copper price $ Brent oil price $  332 109  310 108  315 106  311 99  (levels) 290 103  305 104  295 70  300 101  285 75  Terms of trade  -3.2  -0.5  0.0  -1.1  1.7  -0.5  -2.1  (annual change, percent) -1.5  -0.8  (f) Forecast.
Moreover, the mark-to-market completed by mark to model of a wide range of assets and liabilities has also contributed to this widespread focus on immediate financial performances. This focus on short-term performance can translate into additional volatility in the price discovery process: indeed, the shorter the investment horizon of market participants, the larger the impact on prices of any new information. Mimetic behaviour is by no means a new phenomenon on financial markets. However, technological developments on markets may have gradually reinforced this type of behaviour. The spread of benchmarking, which allows fund managers and clients to measure performance against that of other funds, together with the growing competition within the sector, appears to have favoured such “herd behaviour”. Some operators have come to the conclusion that it is better to be wrong along with everybody else, rather than take the risk of being right alone. A striking example of rational mimetic behaviour is the influence that hedge funds enjoyed, a few years ago, as "opinion leaders" and trend makers. The second set of factors relates to new market techniques or financial engineering devices. Here are a few examples of some of these mechanisms: •  The inclusion of contingent or trigger clauses in loan and bond contracts. These clauses provide creditors with a form of insurance since the level of interest rate paid by debtors increases when specific trigger events occurs (typically the downgrading of the debtor by rating agencies). These clauses were designed to help borrowers access financing at lower rates.