The United Nations expects 1.9% growth on average this year. One of the worst scores in decades.
With our correspondent in Geneva, Jeremiah Lance
The endless disruptions of the Covid, the consequences of the war in Ukraine on the price of energy, on the supply of wheat, galloping inflation, the climate emergency… It is no coincidence that the global economic machine is jammed . In Europe, we are heading for a meager 0.2% growth, against 3.3% in 2022.
” We can clearly see this with what has happened in Europe over the past ten years: when an austerity policy is implemented, States reduce social spending. And it is often women who are the first to be affected. Just think of health coverage for mothers, for their children, for maternity leave, warns Jéronim Capaldo, economist at Cnuced (United Nations Conference for Trade and Development) who warns against the temptation of austerity. But it’s more than that. The cuts also affect jobs in education, in the “care” professions [où les femmes sont sur-représentées] which are often financed by public authorities. »
Adapting the economy to climate change
Austerity could also prevent states from achieving their UN Sustainable Development Goals. The solution is not so much to tighten the belt a little more, says the UN, but to invest in the transformation of the economy to adapt it to climate change.
Good news all the same in this year 2023: the fall in energy and food prices should continue. Provided that the war in Ukraine does not contradict a scenario that is anything but set in stone.