US deficits 'major threat' to world economy, says UN

The global economy grew by 4% last year, but massive US trade deficits coupled with a weak dollar overseas threaten economic stability worldwide, the United Nations said.

A generally upbeat report about the world’s finances in 2004 said the economic expansion – the best since 2000 – was part of a cyclical recovery that was reaching its peak. It said that growth is expected to slow to a little over 3% next year, but that change was not the start of a new downturn.