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From the World Economic Forum:
Confidence in the state of the world economy is at its lowest ebb since the World Economic Forum started its Global Confidence Index five quarters ago. The relative optimism of the previous quarter evaporated against a backdrop of slowing growth in the US and China as well as a lingering eurozone crisis, with 72% of respondents to the poll reporting that they were not confident about the state of the global economy over the next 12 months, up from 37%.
“Despite every effort to ensure economic, social and political stability, we are still just one shock away from everything getting off track again – which points to the need for greater resilience globally,” said Lee Howell, Managing Director at the World Economic Forum, who is responsible for the Forum’s Global Risks 2012 report.
All three of the main confidence indices measured in the poll of 430 experts reflected a markedly more negative outlook in the third quarter of the year. As well as the gloomy overview, 68% of experts now gauge a significant economic disruption to be likely or very likely in the next 12 months, up from 46% in the second quarter.
The perceived likelihood of a big societal disruption also increased, with 53% of respondents seeing this as likely or very likely over the next year, up from 46% three months previously. Meanwhile, concerns about a major geopolitical disruption remained stable at 55%.
Respondents were increasingly worried about the ability of existing institutions to cope with the multifaceted crisis. Some 61% of the experts surveyed were not confident in global governance, up from 45% in the previous quarter, while those who lacked confidence in global cooperation rose to 48% from 37%.
