TOKYO/BERLIN/NEW YORK/BEIJING -- The global economy in April-June logged its first quarter of negative growth since the coronavirus pandemic began two years ago, as mounting headwinds ranging from surging inflation in the West to zero-COVID restrictions in China weigh on economic activity.
Inflation in particular is a fault line in the world economy, which only stand to widen should a crisis break out in the Taiwan Strait or elsewhere. The U.S. and Europe now face a test on whether they can continue to lead global markets as they struggle to wean themselves from their dependence on cheap Russian energy and Chinese labor.
