International Economic Week in Review: A Very Light Week of News

            This week, the IMF published its updated World Economic Outlook, which noted that global growth accelerated in the 1H17.  While the US’ 1Q GDP number was disappointing, growth rebounded in the second.  Europe and Japan saw an increase in consumer spending, investment and exports.  The report also observed two reasons for weak global inflation.  First, several commodities are noticeably lower: oil is down 8.1% over February-August while natural gas is off 9.6%.  Agricultural prices are 5% lower for the same period.  Second, the Philip’s Curse is not only broken in the US, but oth