The World Bank released their latest global economic forecast on Tuesday and the news wasn't great. They warn that most countries should start to prepare for a recession. David Malpass, the president of the World Bank says, "For many countries, recession will be hard to avoid." This is because the rate of global growth is expected to decrease from 5.7% in 2021 to 2.9% in 2022. The World Bank had previously forecasted a 4.1% growth for 2022. The downgrade doesn't come as a shock to the many macroeconomic experts that have been warning about a potential recession for months. There are many factors to blame including the ongoing pandemic, high inflation, rising oil prices and weakening supply, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The interest rate hikes the Federal Reserve is imposing in attempt to control inflation may be the thing that kicks the economy into a recession. The looming recession may be mild and normal for recessions that occur at the end of the business lifecycle. However, the World Bank warns that even a mild recession could lead to a phenomenon known as stagflation. When you mix a stagnant economy with inflation you get the dangerous combination aptly named stagflation. According to the definition in the article, stagflation occurs when economic growth goes through a significant slowdown, but inflation and high prices persist. The last time stagflation was an issue was back during the oil crisis of the 1970s. Malpass also wrote, "Several years of above-average inflation and below- average growth are now likely, with potentially destabilizing consequences for low- and middle-income economies. It's a phenomenon-stagflation that the world has not seen since the 1970s." Resuming normal supply-chain operations and increasing production around the world are key to avoiding stagflation according to the World Bank. However, the return to normal won't be easy due to Covid related lockdowns in China and the war in the Ukraine which continue to wreak havoc on the global supply chain.