TIAA-CREF, the full-service investment firm that manages nearly $835 billion in assets, recently produced a series of short videos about the year ahead (2016) featuring its Chief Economist Tim Hopper.
1. The U.S. economy should accelerate modestly this year.
2. Fed rate hikes could stimulate economic growth this year.
3. The U.S. economy is on a path toward sustainable growth in 2016.
4. China’s slowdown puts a damper on global growth.
*My knowledge of economics is very basic and I will most likely say something ignorant.* I think it’s interesting that the global economy and individual consumer economy are “on very different pages”. I have a vague understanding of this being because of the low price of oil (due to the middle east having easier access of selling oil on the global market) as this would decrease the value of oil company stocks. I believe that a growth in the individual consumer economy would cause an increase in the production of and availability of individual consumer based products (increased purchasing of cars perhaps?). I also believe that this will give a jump-start to the service and entertainment industries and we might see a growth in video gaming products, movies and television shows as well as the vacationing industries as consumers will have more money to spend on these industries. I can understand why the European economy is behind the US in a global sense due to (or at least this is what I believe) a large influx of refugee immigrants. I believe this influx will/has put an initial strain on the individual governments within the EU until the refugees have found suitable jobs and no longer require government benefits. I believe this is why the European economy is projected to be a few years behind the US.