IMF Lowers Global Growth Forecasts

The rest of us probably did months ago

The International Monetary Fund is cutting its global economic forecasts yet again, calling the risks of a slowdown "alarmingly high," primarily because of policy uncertainty in the United States and Europe.

It foresees global growth of 3.3 percent in 2012 and 3.6 percent in 2013, down from 3.5 percent this year and 3.9 percent next year when it made its last report in July. New estimates suggest a 15 percent chance of recession in the United States next year, 25 percent in Japan and above 80 percent in the euro area.