As Donald Trump prosecutes his trade war and muses about sacking Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, analysts are poring over the data—and they are seizing on the smallest dips in stockmarkets and rises in inflation as proof of harm. Take a step back, though, and what is striking is how calm it all is. Over the past decade the global order has been upended by populists, authoritarians and war. Yet, as we explain this week, the economy is powering on, unfazed. Aside from a brief contraction as covid-19 lockdowns went into effect, global gdp has grown at a respectable annual clip of about 3% since 2011. Across the rich world, unemployment is near a record low. Both America’s S&P 500 and the global MSCI index of stocks are near record highs.
Bit by bit, the world economy’s resilience is being worn away
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