As reported over the weekend [6], when the IMF leaked Christine Lagarde has taken some time away from her busy tanning booth schedule to revise her outlook on global growth, the most recent revision of IMF projections would hit some time this week. It just did. And while the fund's 2013 global outlook came in as expected, or down from 3.3% to 3.1%, we now have the full breakdown of the IMF's crystal ball predictions broken down by region.
But wait, there's more. We also went back in time and compared the current, July, World Economic Outlook projection [7], with the IMF's previous ones going back to the beginning of 2012. We have compiled the resultant hilarious data showing the IMF's utter cluelessness about the future in the charts below. All we can say is one hasn't seen a hockeystick, until one see the IMF's latest progression from 2013 to 2014 growth and shown below.
Here are the IMF's latest, and prior, forecasts presented without commentary. None is needed.
World growth:
[8]
US growth:
[9]
Euroarea growth, or lack thereof:
[10]
China growth:
[11]
And the all important, or none at all in a centrally-planned, nominally devaluing world, chart of world trade:
[12]
And now, we look forward to the next downward revision in global "growth."