Introduction
The United States of America is a country with one of the most influential economics. The numbers confirm it. According to the World Bank in the period from 2010-2018, Annual GDP growth has been stable in the range of low 1.5 and high of 2.9 (World Bank Open Data | Data, 2020). If we talk about the unemployment rate over the last decade, we can clearly see that it has been lowering with every year. In 2010 it was 9.6 compared to the 2019 rate of 3.6. The inflation rate from 2010 to the present moment has been more or less stable in the range of 1-2%. For example, the lowest percentage was in 2015 with 1.06 and the highest in 2018 with 2.4. One can analyze that since 2016 the inflation rate has been going up significantly.
Account balance. Import/ Export
The current account balance taken from the GDP percentage of the United States of America has been lower zero since 1991 and getting lower every year until 2006. If talking about the last decade, numbers went up in the period 2010-2013 from -2.8% (2010) to -2% (2013). Since then, the Current account balance has been stable with the last indicator of -2.3% in 2018, according to the world bank. The export percentage has been significantly dropping over the last decade. For comparison, in 2010, it was 12.1% and 3% in 2018. The import of goods and services has also been extremely unstable since 2010. It has reasonably dropped in the 2010-2013 period from 14 to 1.5 %. The last 2018 indicator shows 4.3 % of import growth. Concluding, imports and export have been unstable, and their annual growth evidently worse than at the beginning of the decade.
Possible effects of COVID-19 on the United States of America
The pandemic that affected the United States caused a major threat to its economy.
No economic field will remain the same during and after the pandemic among potential threats of economic disruptions highly possible significant drop in the export and import rates. Millions of workers can potentially be left without their jobs indefinitely or completely lose them, therefore increasing the unemployment rate. Consequently, all businesses from local small to big chains risk losing a significant amount of revenue due to their close down.
Everyone was a witness to the stock market crash that happened at the end of February. Such unplanned changes in the market have a high chance of affecting investments in pensions or individual savings accounts. All factors combined reflect on the decrease in valuations and the increase in volatility in the financial markets.
Federal Reserve decided to cut interest rates; however, change within Monetary Fund policy may make little to no effect on the overall economic state.
Because of the restrictions for traveling touristic business, which was the main source of funding of many cities in the United States, can crash and face significant losses. Airlines too will possibly experience a big crisis, therefore affecting the economy of the country.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva says coronavirus’s effect on the world’s economy is the “most pressing uncertainty.” (Vinelli, Weller, and Vijay, 2020).
However, one upside of the pandemic crisis is that due to the lockdowns of many factories, the slowdown in overall life, and the self-isolation of Americans, the pollution rates can significantly drop and make a positive impact on the environment.
Another macroeconomic problem the country is facing
In the center of the pandemic, the United States macroeconomics is unstable at the moment. Therefore, it is impossible to predict any numbers for the future. Uncertainty must be the biggest problem for economics.
Because covid-19 is a worldwide pandemic, nobody knows when countries will be open to renew the export and import or allow traveling across the borders. Other countries’ economic state affects the US economy because of the tight partnership with many of them. Every citizen wonders which path America will take to recover from the shock, human, and financial losses of the Coronavirus pandemic. No one can predict how fast the economy will manage to go back to the pre-pandemic output levels and growth rates (Carlsson-Szlezak, Reeves, and Swartz, 2020). Such uncertainty is the greatest macroeconomic problem at the moment.
Conclusion
The United States economy is one of the strongest in the world.
Due to the pandemic, many experts agree that it is impossible to count up the economic disruption and see the full picture of the damage Coronavirus will cause. Therefore, America is facing the biggest uncertainty and maybe re-living the world crisis of 2008. However, after analyzing the World Bank macroeconomic data, one can conclude that it is possible to recover from such a crisis, but it will take time, patience, and thought-through actions that consider both interests of the citizens and the country as a whole. Coronavirus is undoubtedly going to make a significant impact on the economic state of the United States of America; thus, with the right tactics, the country can fight the pandemic’s effect on the overall situation.
Reference List
Carlsson-Szlezak, P., Reeves, M. and Swartz, P., 2020. Understanding The Economic Shock Of Coronavirus. Harvard Business Review. Web.
Vinelli, A., Weller, C. and Vijay, D., 2020. The Economic Impact Of Coronavirus In The U.S. And Possible Economic Policy Responses – Center For American Progress. Center for American Progress. Web.
Data.worldbank.org. 2020. World Bank Open Data | Data. Web.