2015 Global Economic Outlook: Better Than 2014—but Not By Much

OK, everybody, let’s get excited about 2015. Sure, there’s Ebola and Vladimir Putin and Islamic State terrorism. Western Europe is back in an economic rut, Japan’s recovery is faltering again, and China looks as if it’s headed for its slowest growth since 1990. But there are good things happening, too. Like, well, strong sales of recreational vehicles made in northern Indiana! “We’re in the recovery—we’re recovered,” says Derald Bontrager, chairman of the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association. “Obama visited this area three times. We were referred to as the ‘white-hot center of the economy.’ ” Bontrager, the chief executive officer of family-owned Jayco in Middlebury, Ind., predicts the industry will tie unit sales records in 2015 and break them in 2016, thanks to rising U.S. employment and continued low interest rates.

The good times aren’t confined to northern Indiana, the hub of RV manufacturing. The U.S. as a whole is emerging as the most likely candidate to power world growth in 2015. North Dakota is crazy busy with shale oil production. Seattle is swamped with Boeing orders. In Silicon Valley, Apple is selling tons of iPhones. New York City has more jobs than ever, as tech companies such as Google (with more than 4,000 employees in the city) lead the way.