The marked decline of oil prices gives some impetus to business activity in the euro area. However, medium-term prospects are dominated by lack of aggregate demand and very low inflation; moreover, the lacking possibility of currency de- or re-valuation, notably the under-valuation for Germany, is weighing on the growth outlook. Prospects for the USA are markedly more favourable since excess private debt was reduced rapidly via bankruptcies and by accepting generous government deficits after the financial market crisis. In China, both prosperity and indebtedness are rising quickly. In Japan, the investment-inhibiting unwinding of corporate debt will wear off in the years to come. Another financial market crisis is looming in Russia, despite the country's moderate degree of foreign indebtedness.