Summary and Appraisal
Abstract
Summary and Appraisal SAGE Publications, Inc.1975DOI: 10.1177/002795017507400101 World economy Total output in the OECD countries, which had changed very little in the second quarter, increased quite sharply in the third, rising at an annual rate of perhaps 6 per cent. It is unlikely that this rate of increase will be maintained, as a high proportion resulted from stock changes, particularly in the United States. But recovery has begun also in Japan and the major countries of continental Western Europe. Though total output has probably fallen by 2-2! per cent this year, we still expect it to increase by 4~-5 per cent in 1976. There may be a further rise of a similar order of magnitude in 1977, but this depends on the response of governments to the conflicting pressures of unemployment and inflation. Unemployment will still be very high next year, even though it seems to be responding faster than might have been expected to the more favourable trend of production. Inflation has slowed down but we now expect the overall level of consumer prices in the OECD countries to be higher next year by as much as 8 per cent after rising by 11 per cent in