ABSTRACT
A ccording to the World Bank, in 2013 the United States accounted for 22.4 percent of world gross domestic product.1 As the world’s largest economy, the U.S. has a profound impact on the global economy as a whole. According to the International Monetary Fund, growth in the U.S. economy was 2.7 percent in 2006 and 5.1 percent for the world economy. However, by 2013 the world economy had contracted to 2.9 percent growth as the economic growth in the United States slowed to 1.9 percent.2 The International Monetary Fund also cut global growth forecasts for 2014 and 2015, warning that the world economy may never return to the pace of expansion seen before the crisis.3
