World Bank Chief Economist: World Faces "Worst Recession Since The Great Depression"

Global oil demand will collapse next year and commodities will not return to the highs they reached this summer in the foreseeable future, two authoritative reports said on Tuesday as they forecast a long and painful worldwide recession.

The stark conclusions came as the World Bank's chief economist predicted that the world faced "the worst recession since the Great Depression".

The US energy department said global oil demand will fall this year and next, marking the first two consecutive years' decline in 30 years.

"The increasing likelihood of a prolonged global economic downturn continues to dominate market perceptions, putting downward pressure on oil prices," it said, forecasting that demand would drop 50,000 barrels a day this year and a hefty 450,000 b/d in 2009. US oil demand will drop next year to the lowest level in 11 years.

Meanwhile, the World Bank's Global Economic Prospects report said the commodities boom of the past five years - which drove up prices 130 per cent - had "come to an end".

The World Bank's analysis of the commodities boom contrasts with the prevalent view among natural resources companies - and most Wall Street analysts - that the ongoing price drop is a correction within an upward trend.

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Comments

[rich misty]

Boosh, the GOP and Republicans are cheering the demise of their most hated enemy: America and Americans

[OtayPanky]

No worries. HuffPo readers will get the insider "tips" on how to breeze through it all unscathed.

[cylindar]

The fall in prices is really good news. The only people that will suffer are those who are highly paid but non essential workers. This is no great loss as they were only bloating the system and keeping the dollars from going to more productive projects. Most Americans are overwieght and they need to eat less, so I am presuming that the layoffs will produce a fitter america. For former exec's there will probably be plenty of labor jobs available which is good exercise. Adversity also produces a more creative approach to life which is a valuable exercise for the mind. Fresh thinking keeps us young. The only people basically that will lose anything will be those that have something to lose. For those of us who do not have anything I can say that we can finally enjoy ourselves, sit back and watch the show. And what a show it's going to be.

[DFL]

GOP DEPRESSION #2, THIS IS THE MESS CONSERVATIVE TRICKLE-DOWN ECONOMICS HAS GIVEN THE USA, AND BARACK DIDN'T PUT INTO PLACE ANY OF THE POLICIES THAT HAVE LED US TO WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW!

[neocon666]

Try telling that that to Hanniy, O'Reilly, and Limbaugh.

[biwee]

GW Bush and the Republican Party OWN this recession/­depression lock, stock and barrel. No amount of whine or spin can erase FACTS!

[EinChicago]

Doubtful. The Americna publis's memory and attention span is not that long. If we are not in a recovery by late 2009, teh blame will be shifted securely to Obama. Fair? No. But that's the way the world works.

[JustNotTrue]

But the world pays attention and they soon won't forget Bush ..........

[Ravyn]

Meanwhile, GWB buys his $2 million Dallas house and will retire Jan. 20 to the good life. Talk about no accountability. And I'm sure he'll be offered some seven figure book deal to write (actually have ghost written since it is unlikely he could write it) his memories with his distorted view of the parallel universe he, Cheney, the GOP and all his supporters lived in the past 8 years. Really sickening. And life goes on. La de dah de dah!

[WilliamProc]

This IS a depression! The government should stop the verbal chicanery and call it what it is. I know its knida` hard to see how the "other half" is doing when you're in a political position, but times are too serious for spin and idiotic word play.

Say it with me:
DEPRESSION!

[CR46]

Thank You!!!! Yes lets call it what it is, A DEPRESSION!!!

[studlyguy]

America is already in a economic depression and they rest of the world is going down the tubes as well,so let's just call it what it is a worldwide economic depression ,dress accordingly,or should I say baton down the hatches accordingly!

[ToTink]

I very excited about a video I just watched that I think you'll all appreciate.

Paul Grignon's 47-minute animated presentation of "Money as Debt" which tells in very simple and effective graphic terms what money is and how it is being created. It is an entertaining way to get the message out. The Cowichan Citizens Coalition and its "Duncan Initiative" received high praise from those who previewed it. I recommend it as a painless but hard-hitting educational tool and encourage the widest distribution and use by all groups concerned with the present unsustainable monetary system in Canada and the United States.

[bloggard]

Seen it! Was the most informative presentation I've seen on finance since I can remember. It plainly illustrates the process of the current money system, and in essence how we got to this mess we are in today...

Do yourself a favor and PLEASE check it out...it will change the way you see money.

[Ezerbio]

URL?

[ErnestineBass]

WW III (or is IV?) coming up!

Study your history kids.

[Rule Of Law]

Ooooo Ernestine, get outta my head! It's how FDR solved the last Depression and made sure the elites made even More money! It's what Eisenhower warned of.

And if after all that history we still have young men and women stupid enough to march off to fight and die for this Corporate/Fascist system that has been forced down our throats, then the War for Independence, The Constitution and Bill Of Rights, the sacrifices of our Founders, the hard work of the common people for over two centuries to build something of value that they could have pride in, will really all have been for Nothing.

And the phrase "Oppose the War But support our Troops," will finally ring as hollow as it ever really was. I support neither. I refuse to support Corporate Death! I will not support institutionalized Genocide. And I cannot support anyone who is stupid enough or brainwashed enough to pick up a gun to kill or be killed based on the lies of the Elites! And get this--I'm pro-gun ownership. I'm pro-death penalty for certain crimes, war crimes especially. And I am not non-violent when it comes to protecting myself or my family. But I will fight with every fiber another senseless Corporate War.

[EinChicago]

You also refuse to take your meds or seek medical help for your paranoid schizoprhenia too.

[MilwaukeeDan]

ROL, I read this morning, America proposes to fight Somali pirates by land, air and sea. And I'm sure the guys who proposed that never fired a gun in anger(just at quail).

[Social Construct]

"The World Bank's analysis of the commodities boom contrasts with the prevalent view among natural resources companies - and most Wall Street analysts - that the ongoing price drop is a correction within an upward trend."
Yeah, those analysts have been soooo helpful with their keen insights and accurate forecasts.

[curiousasheck]

Okay lets edit this a little.

Global oil demand will subside next year and commodities will not return to the highs they reached this summer in the foreseeable future, two authoritative reports said on Tuesday as they forecast a long and overdue breather from the worldwide corporate greed and lunacy running amuck on the planet.

[sposton]

What recession? Bill O'Reilly and Karl Rove say media is making it all up as a favor to Obama.

[StellaRay]

Yes, and all O'Reilly wants is an honest press. Perhaps this is another opportunity for SNL to use exact quotes in their skits. Like with Palin, it would be hard to make up something more scathing than their own words.

[Montanagramma]

The oil price spike, in my opinion, was simply a quick money grab while they could get away with it. There was no reason for them to hold prices down, when big bucks were possible, and the administration in charge was on their side. It seems that when the Obama victory became clear, prices came down. His stand on alternative energy needed to be negated by the reduction in prices. The people would see low prices, and not see a need for alternatives. We've been here before in the 1970's. Same game, different decade. This time we need to fix this forever. We need to go full speed ahead on the alternative energy so that we are never in this mess again. If we had done what was smart in the 1970's this would be a non-issue today. Hind sight is 20/20 isn't it?

[Jezdukowski]

Bingo!!!

[ErnestineBass]

Yes, and the Big Three "bailout" (which isn't really going to the automakers, but to the private equity firm Cerberus) will come out of a fund set up specifically to promote R&D in alternatives.

Clever.

[SurrealPumpkin]

I'm seeing a lot of commercials extolling alternative energy and laughing at clean coal. I'm glad someone is making an effort to keep the subject front and center.

[jay1975]

A world wide recession?! But everyone at the Huff blames the economic problems only on Bush. Could it be that the bank around the world caused this problem by their greed? The Russian economy colapsed twice this year and the US MSM didn't report it because it showed the problem as a world crisis and not just a US crisis (can't help the Dem party if you share facts).

[Rule Of Law]

It's very simple, really--Wall Street rules the world. When our financial weapons of mass destruction began to unwind in the portfolios of the pension funds, Corporate investment funds, and Sovereign Wealth (meaning individual countries) Funds, they took the economies of those countries down with them. Read any European paper from the last two weeks and you will see Many articles that, rightly, place the blame for this world wide economic crisis at the feet of the US, and especially the Bush Administration that has gone to such lengths to de-regulate and look the other way.

[SurrealPumpkin]

Its the Bank Shot heard 'round the world.

[markm8128]

The epicenter of the global economic crash was clearly in the US, when the US housing bubble burst. When the US stock market drops 40% in one year, that causes economies around the world to collapse, because so much of their money is invested in our markets.

The delusions of Reagan/Bushkinomics was that 25% of Bush's supposedly vibrant economy, was due to credit infused into the economy during the housing bubble, and much of the rest of the cash came from ramping up government spending to record levels, at the same time cutting taxes....leaving us totally bankrupt, making it impossible for the Federal Reserve to respond effectively to the crisis.

[curiousasheck]

We hereby all agree on the illusion at hand.