Country risk Mar 2001: Cautious optimism on world economy

Our analysts are still optimistic about the world's largest economy, for all the recent discussion about a possible recession. Any concerns about a hard landing in the United States are not reflected in their overall rating of its economic performance, which has even risen since last September's review. Indeed ratings for a clear majority of countries - 106 in all - and 94 country scores for wealth-adjusted economic performance have been revised upwards. Some caution is advisable however, especially in emerging markets. In Japan and China, GNP growth projections for both 2001 and next year have been revised upward since September's survey. Despite this, overall country risk ratings for all major Asian economies, with the exceptions of Singapore and India, have fallen. The steady decline of Japan...