It is hard to believe that we are in the epicentre of a global financial crisis that is now entering its sixth year, and that Italy itself is grappling with what appears to be a period of Italian political instability against a backdrop of an economy that contracted by around 2,4 per cent in 2012, and within a challenging Eurozone environment.
The continued synchronized downturn in the major advanced economies – the US, Eurozone, Japan and the UK – will impact on the global outlook for some considerable time. It is to the United States that we look to build on its slow recovery and begin to lead the advanced economies out of this very difficult economic environment.