Global Economy Doubts Affect Future Of Coral Gables

This article categorizes the risks in the growth of the global economy.

As a major center of international and regional companies, the economy of Coral Gables is no doubt directly correlated with these risks.

The risks come from the Middle East and Japan, Europe, the future of the housing market in the US, and the uncertainty about managing the US budget.

The global economy is expanding much less than it should be at this point, and the possible double dip in housing in the US will directly affect consumers and housing values in the US and, of course, in Coral Gables.

Thus there will be continuing and serious risks in the budget, spending and taxes of the city of Coral Gables with the need to make serious and permanent reductions in operating costs of the city through pension reform, the Biltmore lease renegotiations and the city’s internal organization and staffing.

First, and foremost, the world as a whole has yet to deal fully with the economic consequences of unrest in the Middle East and the tragedies in Japan. While ongoing for weeks or months, these events have not yet produced their full disruptive impact on the global economy. It is not often that the world finds itself facing the stagflationary risk of lower demand and lower supply at the same time. And it is even more unusual to have two distinct developments leading to such an outcome. Yet such is the case today.

The Middle Eastern uprisings have pushed oil prices higher, eating up consumer purchasing power while raising input prices for many producers. At the same time, Japan’s trifecta of calamities – the massive earthquake, devastating tsunami, and paralyzing nuclear disaster – have gutted consumer confidence and disrupted cross-border production chains (especially in technology and car factories).

The second big global risk comes from Europe, where Germany’s strong performance is coinciding with a debt crisis on the European Union’s periphery. Last week, Portugal joined Greece and Ireland in seeking an official bailout to avoid a default that would undermine Europe’s banking system. In exchange for emergency loans, all three countries have embarked on massive austerity. Yet, despite the tremendous social pain, this approach will make no dent in their large and rising debt overhang.

Meanwhile, housing in the United States is weakening again – the third large global risk. Even though home prices have already fallen sharply, there has been no meaningful rebound. Indeed, in some areas, prices are again under downward pressure, which could worsen if mortgage finance becomes less readily available and more expensive, as is possible.

With housing being such a critical driver of consumer behavior, any further substantial fall in home prices will sap confidence and lower spending. It will also make relocating even more difficult for Americans in certain parts of the country, aggravating the long-term-unemployment problem.

Finally, there is the increasingly visible fiscal predicament in the US, the world’s largest economy – and the one that provides the “global public goods” that are so critical to the healthy functioning of the world economy. Having used fiscal spending aggressively to avoid a depression, the US must now commit to a credible medium-term path of fiscal consolidation. This will involve difficult choices, delicate execution, and uncertain outcomes for both the federal government and the US Federal Reserve.

via How Risky is the Global Economy? by Mohamed A. El-Erian – Project Syndicate.