The global economic party is over

With the United States bordering on recession, the global economic boom has ended. The boom was unusually long and persistent, with four years of roughly 5 percent growth - a period of sustained economic dynamism not seen since 1970.

The clearest sign that the boom is ending is the International Monetary Fund's forecast of 1.5 percent growth for the US in 2008. That may not sound like a recession, but the IMF's marginally positive projection primarily reflects the growth overhang from 2007, with hardly any new contribution in 2008. It is compatible with three consecutive quarters of zero growth in 2008.

Many argue that a US recession will no longer affect the world because China has supplanted America as an engine of the global economy.