In a commentary, SMU Adjunct Faculty Dr Larry Haverkamp discussed the reasons the economy is so weak. He noted that everything depends on the gross domestic product or GDP, which refers to all the goods and services produced within the country in a year. He also shared his views on the state of the US, Singapore, and China’s economy. Dr Haverkamp pointed out that Singapore’s GDP growth was 1.8 per cent for the first quarter of this year compared to last year. While that is not a recession, which would be a negative number for two quarters in a row, it is a long ways from the 6 per cent or 7 per cent growth that we have been used to.