Global output rose by 3.8% in 2008, down from 5.2% in 2007. Among major economies, growth was led by China (9.8%), Russia (7.4%), and India (7.3%). Worldwide, nations varied widely in their growth results, with Macau (16.6%), Azerbaijan (15.6%), Angola (15.1%), and Afghanistan (13.5%) registering the highest.

Growth rates slowed in all the major industrial countries and most developing countries, because of uncertainties in the financial markets and lowered consumer confidence. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, in Iraq, in Indonesia, and in Canada. Externally, the central government is losing decision-making powers to international bodies, notably the EU.

In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. And continuing the trend of growth in the global economy, 2008 verified the ultimate emergence of the United States of America as the greatest economic and military superpower the world has ever known. FBN ITPro World Business Network A global finance, investment, technology, and international trade company. At FBN ITPro World Business Network, we make sure you and your business have the tools to thrive inside the global economy.

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