The US economy’s Achilles’ heel

PRESIDENT Obama has declared the economic crisis over — and for the United States, maybe it seems that way. But for most other countries, not so much. Their recoveries are faltering. The obvious question is whether the global weakness will infect the US expansion. This is a crucial footnote to Obama’s optimism.

Two major reports — one from the World Bank, the other from its sister organization, the International Monetary Fund — recently lowered estimates for global economic growth in 2015. Said the IMF: “The United States is the only major economy for which growth projections have been raised.”