China – whose wealth has accelerated in recent decades amid rapid industrialization – is expected to extend its lead, with the IMF estimating its economy will be worth just under $26.98 trillion in 2019.
That would be 20 per cent bigger than the U.S. economy, which is forecast to be worth $22.3 trillion by then.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest seemed oblivious to the news as it percolated on Wednesday.
Asked for his assessment of the health of the global economy in the face of Russia's zero-sum economy and other troubles in Europe – including Germany's search for stimulus measures to head off a recession – Earnest crowed.
Those conditions, he said, 'make the president's policies look pretty good. They certainly make the performance of the American economy look pretty good.'