Beware: Double Dip Ahead?

The 17-nation Eurozone is at risk of falling into a “severe recession,” the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warned, as it called on governments and the European Central Bank to act quickly to keep the slowdown from becoming a drag on the global economy.  OECD Chief Economist Pier Carlo Padoan warned the euro-zone economy has the potential to shrink as much as two percent in 2012, a figure that the think tank had described as its worst-case scenario last November.  The OECD -which comprises the world’s most developed economies — said its average forecast was that the Euro-zone economy will shrink 0.1 percent in 2012 and grow a mere 0.9 percent next year.  “Today we see the situation in the Euro area close to the possible downside scenario” in the OECD’s November report, “which if materializing could lead to a severe recession in the Euro area and with spillovers in the rest of the world,” Padoan said.

The report believes that Europe will lag behind other countries, especially the United States, where the economy is expected to grow 2.4 percent this year and 2.6 percent in 2013.  “There is now a diverging trend between the euro area and the U.S., where the U.S. is picking up more strongly while the euro area is lagging behind,” Padoan said.  Europe is split between a wealthier north that is growing and the southern nations that are falling into recession, according to OECD statistics.

“The global economic outlook is still cloudy,” said Angel Gurria, OECD Secretary General. “At first sight the prospects for the global economy are somewhat brighter than six months ago.  At closer inspection, the global economic recovery is weak, considerable downside risks remain and sizable imbalances remain to be addressed.”

Germany, Europe’s largest economy, will grow two percent next year after expanding 1.2 percent in 2012.  France, the Eurozone’s second-biggest economy, will grow 1.2 percent next year after expanding 0.6 percent this year, the OECD said.  By contrast, Italy’s economy is expected to shrink 1.7 percent this year and 0.4 percent in 2013.  Spain will remain mired in recession, with contraction of 1.6 percent this year and 0.8 percent in 2013.  Padoan has asked Eurozone leaders to enter into a “growth compact” to promote expansion while cutting deficits.  French President Francois Hollande has made achieving this type of pact the focus of his European diplomacy.

The OECD is chiefly concerned that problems with European sovereign debt are a significant threat to growth around the world. “The crisis in the Eurozone remains the single biggest downside risk facing the global outlook,” Padoan said.  “This is a global crisis which is largely a debt crisis.  It is a result of excessive debt accumulation in both the private and public sectors.  One can not safely say we’re out of the crisis until debt comes down to more manageable levels.”

To protect its economic recovery, the OECD urged the American government to move very gradually to tighten its budget.  A wave of U.S. spending cuts and tax hikes – known as the “fiscal cliff” — are set to take effect in January unless politicians agree to delay at least some of them.  Bush-era tax cuts and benefits for the long-term jobless are both expected to expire.  Another $1.2 trillion in spending cuts on federal programs would take effect as a result of Congress’ failure last year to find a comprehensive deal to cut the budget deficit.  The OECD said these actions would be the wrong fiscal policy given the still-fragile condition of world’s largest economy.  “The programmed expiration of tax cuts and emergency unemployment benefits, together with automatic federal spending cuts, would result in a sharp fiscal retrenchment in 2013 that might derail the recovery,” according to the OECD.

Wall Street economists say that fiscal policy could tighten by about $600 billion in 2013, or about four percent of GDP, if lawmakers cannot agree on what programs to cut.  Goldman Sachs estimates the “fiscal cliff” could trim approximately four percent from GDP in the first half of 2013.  The majority of economists, however, expect lawmakers to act before that particular hammer has an opportunity to fall.