the global economic growth rate dropped to 2.3% in 2019

The United Nations Conference on Trade and development (UNCTAD) released the theme of the 2019 trade and development report for the global green new deal (hereinafter referred to as the "report"), and proposed new measures to solve the financial insecurity, economic polarization and environmental degradation. The report points out that the global economic environment is heading in the wrong direction: the default macroeconomic option is to tighten policy, and the preferred tool for structural change is liberalization and debt, the main engine of growth. Under such policy rules, market dynamics and corporate power structure, the trend of economic differentiation and environmental degradation will continue to intensify. The report points out that under the threat of trade friction, exchange rate fluctuations, Britain's decoupling from Europe and long-term interest rate changes, 2019 will present the weakest expansion period since the 2008 financial crisis and face the risk of turning to contraction in 2020. The report predicts that global economic growth will decline from 3% in 2018 to 2.3% in 2019, with the trend of change in developed economies shrinking from 2.2% to 1.6%, while growth in developing economies will also fall from 4.2% to 3.5%. In addition, weak global demand and unilateral trade practices will significantly slow trade growth, from 2.8% last year to 2%.

The report is also deeply pessimistic about the recent "interest rate cuts" launched by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank to stimulate the economy: "The slowdown in growth in all major developed economies, including the United States, confirms that easing monetary policy and rising asset prices to stimulate demand can only produce short-term growth at most, and tax cuts for businesses and the rich simply cannot drive productive gains. Investment in the domain." In addition to the direct risks that aforementioned drag on the global economy, the report argues that there are four major macro-structural challenges, namely, a decrease in the share of economic benefits allocated to labour, a decrease in public expenditure, a decrease in productive investment and a sustained increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

To this end, the report calls for the promotion of public investment through the public sector-led "Global Green New Deal" while avoiding environmental collapse, promoting wage-led growth rather than financial-led growth, promoting productive trade and curbing predatory finance.