Confident India and China defy global economic gloom

In a recent survey of close to 1500 business executives around the world conducted by global consultancy firm McKinsey & Co, only those in China and India expressed an overwhelmingly positive view about the outlook for the next six months.

We all know that the booming economies of India and China are driving much of the world’s economic growth at the moment.

In a recent survey of close to 1500 business executives around the world conducted by global consultancy firm McKinsey & Co, only those in China and India expressed an overwhelmingly positive view about the outlook for the next six months.

Chinese execs were the most confident, with 51% predicting business would improve in six months and 27% predicting a decline, ahead of Indian managers on 41% and 28% respectively.

At the other end of the scale were business executives in the rest of the Asia Pacific – and yes, that includes Australia – where only 14% are positive and 54% negative about the economic outlook.

And, interestingly, executives in North America are generally more positive than their European counterparts, despite the deep malaise plaguing the economy there. Just over 20% of US execs are optimistic and 37% pessimistic – admittedly, not a great result, but ahead of the 18% positive and 49% negative reported by the Europeans.

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