That is on a par with crisis-hit Greece, Ireland and Portugal, and far higher than in any other big rich economy.
But even a sluggish American recovery will outpace other big rich economies.
GDP, one of the lowest among big rich countries (see chart).
Yet for all its apparent solidity, Germany's economy has crashed harder than that of any other big rich country (with the possible exception of Japan, another high-saving, export-led economy).
An underlying rationale for Eurobonds is that the public finances of the euro area as a whole look quite respectable, at least compared with those of other big rich economies.
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It has the smallest service sector by employment share of any big rich economy, thanks to archaic rules in retailing and many professions, that block the creation of new industries and jobs.
GDP, the lowest of any big rich economy.
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The continental countries certainly have not escaped the recession: France may be doing a bit better than the world's other big rich economies this year, but Germany, dragged down by its exporting industries, is doing significantly worse.
In a recent study, economists at the IMF analysed the respective impact of deficit reduction, global rebalancing and productivity-enhancing structural reforms on the growth prospects of big rich economies and found that by far the strongest positive effect came from structural reforms.
This beer has a big, rich chocolate-colored head, and pours an attractive opaque black.
The task is harder in big, rich economies, where growth is more fragile.
Some point out, for instance, that it would help big, rich countries that have better access to the technology.
In addition, if any form of online poker comes to America, Zynga will have to deal with big and rich competitors.
The average ratio of public debt to GDP in big, rich economies has jumped from below 80% to nearly 100% in two years.
The first is the dominance of big, rich red wines, such as California cabernet sauvignon, with a lack of more subtle or lighter-bodied wines.
McKinsey said that the UK had by 2008 become the most indebted of all the big, rich economies, more indebted even than debt-engulfed Japan.
And the free marketeer in him clearly relishes the prospect of really taking on the big, rich and well-entrenched firms that dominate the oil industry.
Bangkok is too big and rich to be seen in 36 hours, even if leave the ship overnight, as you can do, to stay in a hotel.
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Megamergers like Vodaphone's bid to buy Mannesmann in telecom and Glaxo Wellcome's embrace of SmithKline Beecham in drugs are reducing the supply of big, rich companies that can pay Spencer Stuart's hefty fees.
Meanwhile, the fall in Germany's stockmarket, which last year was steeper than in any other big, rich economy, has cut the value of their remaining industrial holdings, taking the stuffing out of an old cushion against hard conditions.
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How was it that big, rich companies, admired and emulated by everyone, could one year be at the peak of their power and, just a few years later, be struggling in the middle of the pack or just plain gone?
At the other end of the spectrum, the hyper-articulate, hypomanic Michel Chapoutier, who walks with a pronounced limp because he was too busy to get a broken leg set some years ago, makes big, rich, heavily oak-influenced wines that can outmuscle Guigal's.
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He was offered big bucks, the ability to retain their own excellent mapping system, and a very rich big brother who needed a successful phone, too.
Most curious, to non-American ears, is another complaint: that the big universities are simply too big and too rich.
Nevertheless, it is unusual for such a gap to emerge between the borrowing costs of big companies and rich-world governments.
He has no use for the status competitions among the big-city rich.
It can be difficult to fathom the thought of having educational exploitation in America, rich big fish businessmen using education to profit.
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Yet, the views and voices of the poor are often sidelined at global summits dominated by the big and the rich players.
They complain that big firms in rich countries are exploiting their vulnerability.
Last week a group of authors and journalists told the committee that big businesses and rich individuals are using libel laws to "stifle" the publication of books and articles.
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