Happy days are here. Or, as the International Monetary Fund puts it more soberly in its latest World Economic Outlook, "notwithstanding higher oil prices and natural disasters, global growth has continued to exceed expectations, aided by benign financial market conditions and continued accommodative macroeconomic policies". The strength of the world economy is impressive and somewhat surprising. Most important, however, it is an opportunity to make the reforms needed to secure dynamism in the decades ahead. If not now, when?

The IMF forecasts global growth this year at 4.9 per cent. Growth is also forecast to be strong across the globe. It is expected to be 3.4 per cent in the US, 2.8 per cent in Japan, 2.5 per cent in the UK and 2 per cent in the eurozone. It is also forecast at 9.5 per cent in China, 7.3 per cent in India, 6 per cent in Russia, 5.8 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa and 5.2 per cent in central and eastern Europe. Even Latin America is forecast to achieve 4.3 per cent.