U.S. exports endangered by world downturn

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Exports, one of the few bright spots in the struggling U.S. economy, could take a hit as other countries fall victim to a worldwide downturn, analysts say.

Globalization has meant woes as well as prosperity spread quickly among all the advanced economies, and U.S. companies relying on continued robust growth in the rest of the world to offset domestic weakness may be running out of time, The New York Times reported Sunday.

High energy prices, crippled financial systems and suffering trading partners have choked growth in many major economies, the International Monetary Fund has determined, saying it expects global growth to slow substantially through the end of this year. It predicts world growth to fall to 4.1 percent from 5 percent in 2007, the newspaper said.

That means the United States' own problems have a good chance of intensifying this fall as its presidential election moves into the final phase.

Distress is becoming apparent even in China and India, where the rate of explosive growth is tapering off.

Analysts said that may endanger foreign investment dollars coming in to inject capital into struggling U.S. financial firms and mortgage companies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.