The
International Monetary Fund says worldwide
growth is weaker than expected because of economic concerns in Europe and the
United States. But there is some positive news. The number of cars being made
is on the rise. That is a sign
that the world’s economy is moving in the right direction. Measuring economic
progress, especially for groups like the middle class, is not easy. But a
little known economic indicator is
beginning to gain acceptance. The so-called” car index” is an attempt to
measure the world middle class based on the number of people who own cars. Experts say that the number of
people who own cars in the developing world is rapidly increasing. That is
because there are about 70 countries with a population
of about 3 billion people who are quickly approaching an important income
level: $ 4,000 per person. Experts say when that level is reached, a country’s middle increases very
quickly. This rise in average income means greater demand for goods that are
considered non-essential. And many
of these goods are produced in Japan, Germany and the United States. The
International Monetary Fund says customer
spending in developed nation has fallen since the economic
downturn of 2008. The fund’s managing director, Christine Lagarde, points to
the debt crisis in Europe and
problems in the United States economy as threats to the global economy. Growth
could be slower that IMF had predicted
earlier in the years. On the other hand, recent studies show customer spending
in developing countries has
increase three times faster than in developed economies.
VOA Learning English for VOA Special English Copied into a scrip by Ty Theavy
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