Chapter II. The World Economy

Extract

After a disappointing first quarter in which, in broad terms, the small growth in output in the OECD area could be attributed wholly to stock movements in the US, the second quarter brought a considerable improvement. Though US stockbuilding was much smaller, OECD countries' total GDP appears to have risen by about 1 per cent, with notably rapid growth in major countries where output had fallen in the first quarter (Germany especially, Japan, France and, on some estimates, Italy). This acceleration, based largely on consumers' expenditure, was moreover achieved in the face of adverse developments in the foreign trade sector, with many non-OECD countries, the oil producers in particular, reducing the volume of their imports to compensate in part for a worsening in their terms of trade.