Inflation-adjusted GDP growth slowing to under 2% next year in the U.S. will lower world GDP growth to 4.4% in 2007, believe the economists at Merrill Lynch & Co.
This year, real GDP growth in the U.S. will likely be about 3.5% and world GDP growth is expected to be 5.2%.
In the U.S. in 2007, "the only question is whether the housing recession will morph into a more generalized downturn like the capex recession did in the opening months of 2001," contends the New York-based financial firm.