| Are we yet to face the worst of the financial crisis? | ||
| With some estimates saying that the financial crisis will have cost the world a mind-blowing 4.1 trillion USD, it may be very hard to see any light at the end of the tunnel. Nevertheless, this first dim light is what a long list of world leaders, including the US President, is envisioning. Are they just talking up the economy? Read any financial magazine, and you will see indicators going in all directions. It appears to hang on the balance. However, that is in itself an improvement to last autumn, when dark clouds and negative stories completely dominated the media picture. However, what has been most striking about this crisis is the utter inability of so-called financial gurus to predict what will happen in the near future. Some have been overly optimistic, some have proven to be too pessimistic. Until now, they have all been proven wrong – one way or another. “It’s the perception, stupid!” Everybody was taken by surprise by the tsunami-like character of the current financial crisis. Few had seen it coming, and even fewer had seen it spreading as fast as it did. It rocked fundamental assumptions about global financial institutions, and heroes of yesterday became villains of the day. The end-result is uncertainty – at macro levels, we really do not know for sure what will be the situation in a couple of months or six months’ time. During this crisis, hindsight has shown us that we can’t trust the highly profiled financial gurus blindly. In other words, we must start with ourselves. What we do know is that it is the aggregated perceptions of the crisis where you live and work that will determine the longevity of it. As a result, it is appropriate to update Bill Clinton’s infamous quote from the 1992-election to “It’s the perception, stupid!” Today’s global economy is so heavily interconnected, that your perception and decisions have a direct influence on the world economy as a whole. The best expert is…YOU! You are one of more than 50,000 subscribers to the SAM Bulletin or 2 million annual visitors on our home pages, and in our opinion, you can make a much better estimation of the current state of the financial crisis. Therefore, we would like to invite you to take a minute to participate in our web poll - on your perception of whether we have seen the worst of the financial crisis or whether the worst is still to come. We will naturally share the results with you in the next edition of the SAM Bulletin. Read the "2009 - In the eye of the storm" bulletin here | ||
| Date | 30-04-2009 | |||