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The New York Stock Exchange at half mast (illustration image). REUTERS / Eduardo Munoz

Fragilized by the trade wars, the world economy is at the worst since the crisis of 2008. A little everywhere, it is the jolt of fight to revive the machine.

Global growth is today " fragile " and " threatened ", said Friday Christine Lagarde leaving the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It is particularly worried about trade tensions and calls on leaders to resolve the uncertainties. Thursday, the OECD, whose forecasts of global growth are down - the worst since the crisis of 2008 - launched more or less the same message.

Everywhere, those who run the economy are now striving towards one goal: supporting the business. Because growth is endangered by trade disputes , between China and the United States of course or even South Korea and Japan for the main ones. Brexit is already weighing on investment, especially in the manufacturing sector. The Bank of England repeated Thursday its concern.

Clog the gaps

And on the side of central banks, we seem to have given the word. China's has just lowered one of its interest rates. Same movement in Brazil and Indonesia. Emerging countries are equally concerned about the slowdown. In the United States, the Fed has further lowered its key rate. For three days, the US central bank has injected tens of billions of dollars into the money markets, crucial for the financing of banks and businesses. Here too, it's unheard of since 2008.

In Europe too, it is a priority, with gloomy growth forecasts, especially in Germany, usually the driving force of the continent. Not to mention the stagnation in Italy. France should do a little better. The three multiply the contacts. Emmanuel Macron spoke again this week in Rome. Bruno Le Maire Thursday with his German counterpart. Paris and Berlin call themselves for a common economic strategy, without necessarily agreeing on the calendar.

Joseph Stiglitz for more fair taxation of multinationals

What are the avenues for avoiding a new crisis like the one in 2008? Several renowned economists met Thursday in Paris. Among them, the Nobel Prize winner in economics, Joseph Stiglitz. He calls for fairer taxation of businesses. With a statement: in the current system, multinationals pay less taxes than before the crisis of 2008.

" It's hard to raise taxes. Many countries are racking their brains. How to do ? For example, we can tax the income of individuals or increase VAT. But if part of society does not pay its share, tax revenues decline, he says. And here we are talking about a very large part of the society that is the multinationals. It is they who have the most means to pay. In the United States, their profits are incredibly large. If these companies do not pay taxes, if they do not share their profits, government revenues decline. As a result, public spending must also decrease. We spend less on health, education, infrastructure, research, technology. As a result, our society is becoming more unequal and growth is slowing down. "