“2017 is shaping up to be the first year of the expansion in which growth surprises to the upside.”
This has been a good year for the global economy, and 2018 will follow that trend, analysts at Goldman Sachs said.
Economic growth around the world has picked up steam this year. Germany — Europe’s largest economy — grew an unexpectedly strong 0.8 percent in the third quarter. In Japan, the economy has grown for seven straight quarters. Meanwhile, in the U.S., the economy grew 3 percent in the third quarter.
“2017 is shaping up to be the first year of the expansion in which growth surprises to the upside,” Goldman analyst Charles Himmelberg said in a note to clients Thursday. “We expect 2018 to deliver more of the same.”
Himmelberg and his team expect the global economy to grow 4 percent next year for several reasons, including strong growth momentum, easing financial conditions, global monetary policy remaining “highly accommodative by historical standards” and the likelihood of fiscal stimulus in the U.S.
