What will a trade war pause fix?

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Via Morgan Stanley, the answer is nothing:

Trade tensions between the US and China have been the single biggest source of uncertainty for the global economy over the past 18 months. After a protracted period of negotiations, some progress has been made towards a deal, with a potential Phase 1 to be signed in mid-November. How much of a difference will this make for the global economy?

To start with, we estimate that trade tensions and their impact on corporate confidence and capex have cost the global economy about 90-100bp of growth momentum. Studies by the Fed staff and the IMF suggest a similar impact. Global growth has decelerated close to a post-crisis low of 2.9%Y in 3Q19 from its peak of 4.1%Y in 1Q18.

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About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.