At first glance that seems nonsensical. Low oil prices transfer money from oil-producing nations to oil-consuming nations. Net oil importing countries account for about 90% of global GDP and consumers often spend the windfall from cheap fuel. Cheap oil should boost world growth, even if it is bad news for exporters. History shows that all the big spikes in oil prices - 1974, 1979, 1990 and 2007 - preceded major economic slowdowns. So with a barrel of Brent crude recently hitting $30 (£21), its lowest in 12 years, why isn't the global economy in better shape? The reality is that the headwinds from China's slowdown and the long-term decline in global growth prospects are the real problem. Lower oil prices are a positive for growth. The world economy is dominated by the rich nations of the West, China and India, economies that benefit from lower oil prices. The losers from lower oil prices - economies like Saudi Arabia, Nigeria or Russia - just have too small a weight in the world economy to significantly hit global growth.
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