World Bank President: U.S. Economic Power ‘Declining’

The president of the World Bank said last week that the economic might of the United States is “declining.”

 ISTANBUL, Turkey – The president of the World Bank said last week that the economic might of the United States is “declining.”

World Bank President Robert Zoellick was speaking in Istanbul prior to the meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

And if there is any blame to be had for this deline, it lies on the shoulders of the financial crisis which started on American shores, Zoellick said.

As a result, Zoellick foresees a long-term rebalancing of the world economy.

“One of the legacies of this crisis may be a recognition of changed economic power relations,” he said.

Already, China gained a permanent seat on the IMF’s 24-seat policy-making committee.

China and Brazil have seen their economies growing in the last two years while the United States has been in recession.

Moreover, the U.S. Labor Department reported that unemployment was at a 26-year high at 9.8 percent.

However, officials like U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner repeat that the U.S. economy had “improved dramatically.”

Still, Geithner conceeds that “conditions for a sustained recovery, led by private demand, are not yet fully established.”