Good morning -

From the RGE Monitor this morning:

"A recession is usually defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. A different meaning is attached to the concept of global recession, in a world where China, Russia and India account for half of global growth and are growing at an annual rate of 11.2%, 7% and 8.5% respectively. A 2.5% rate of global growth qualifies as a global recession. Big investment banks like Citi now expect 2008 global growth at a weak 3.2% while the IMF just adjusted downward its 2008 growth forecast from 4.8% – as in the October WEO – to 4.1%, the slowest in five years. "