Goldman, Barclays see ‘as good as it gets’ 4% global growth

It’s looking like boom time in the world economy again. As more economists publish their 2018 outlooks, those from Goldman Sachs Group and Barclays are proving the most bullish in predicting global growth will reach 4 per cent next year. That would be the strongest since 2011 and up from the 3.7 per cent that Goldman Sachs estimates for this year. “The ongoing economic expansion has substantial momentum,’’ Barclays economists Ajay Rajadhyaksha and Michael Gavin wrote in a November 16 report. “It is not overly reliant on any single geographical region, industry, or source of demand. It does not seem to have generated economic or financial excesses that pose an immediate threat.’’ At Goldman Sachs, economists led by Jan Hatzius suggest the outlook is as “good as it gets” after a year in which growth in the Group of Seven economies is poised to beat that projected by the of forecasters for the first time since 2010. Most major economies are even running ahead of their pre-financial crisis average, Hatzius’s team said in a November 5 report.