Group Chief Economist's Weekly Brief
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- 30th January 2012
- Chief Economist's Weekly Brief - Getting down in Davos (PDF 39KB)
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It was never going to be a particularly jolly affair, but the mood at this year's annual meeting of the World Economic Forum was much gloomier than previous years. The IMF announced a substantial reduction to its 2012 global economic forecast. No surprises about where it laid the blame - Europe. And the Brussels summit this week will address how to improve growth in the Eurozone. Confidence needs to be restored to achieve this, but for this to happen a realistic plan to end the crisis has to be in place. With continued wrangling about how best to achieve this, and Greece still a big worry, the delegates won't be feeling happy on their way home from Switzerland. At least there was some better news from the US where GDP growth picked up in the final quarter. While there are still risks ahead, this could be light at the end of a very long tunnel.
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