World Bank offers robust global outlook (Alan Beattie)

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By Alan Beattie -- Financial Times

Dec. 13, 2006 -- The World Bank's annual global economic prospects report, released Wednesday, is a rare thing these days: a study glowing with optimism about the future for globalisation.

The report not only says that the global economy should do well in the next two years, but that globalisation between now and 2030 will proceed apace.

It predicts an optimistic 3.1 percent growth rate per head in developing countries (compared with 2.1 percent since 1980), and that rapidly growing international trade in services -- half of which will come from developing countries -- will drive continued globalisation.

Key to the report's long-term projections is the emergence of a "global middle class" -- defined as those with an annual per capita income between the average in Brazil and in Italy, about $4,000 and $17,000 respectively.