The IMF, which is kind of like the economic fortune teller of the world, has woven its crystal ball and cast some pretty grim spells for the future of the global economy. In oh-so-technical terms, the big money magicians say the outlook hasn’t been this bad since 1990. We must admit, though, that we weren’t sure if they meant it’s all because of the “geopolitical fragmentation” (fancy words for countries not playing nice together) or just those pesky slowdowns in global labor force growth.

As if that’s not enough, they served up some less than appetizing news for us in the short term too. They sort of downgraded (not like when your favorite streaming service buffers) their global growth outlook for this year and next, and it’s all got something to do with things like the Ukraine situation (bummer) and, you know, just our general inability to sort out inflation.

And yeah, apparently, across the board things are looking pretty meh: the US economy will grow a bit, the Eurozone will grow even less, and the UK might shrink by 0.3%. Meanwhile, China and India will grow like they’re binge-watching a new drama series on a lazy binge weekend. Russia is trying to bounce back, but don’t be too impressed, they’re just making up for their 2022 losses.

Let’s not forget the banking drama, either – we might be out of our binge-watching analogy, but the banking sector felt like a straight-up thriller recently. Banks fell like dominoes, with names like Silvergate Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank biting the dust. First Republic Bank hopped on the help train, and poor ol’ Credit Suisse got bought out by UBS.

The IMF ‘wizard-nomists’ gave us a heads up, though – their bleak outlook is based on an assumption that the recent banking turmoil stays sort of contained. So, fingers crossed, let’s hope the next season of “Economy: Tales of Financial Folly” doesn’t hit our screens any time soon./n/n Serious news: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/11/imf-world-economic-outlook-april-2023-weak-growth-forecasts-inflation-high-until-2025.html