WEF warns fundamental hurdles not addressed
Source: Agencies |
January 9, 2013, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
FRAGILE economies and extreme weather have combined to crank up the global risk dial in the past year, creating a dangerous mix, the World Economic Forum said yesterday.
Despite Europe's avoidance of a euro break-up in 2012 and the United States stepping back from its fiscal cliff, business leaders and academics fear politicians are failing to address fundamental problems.
That is the conclusion of the group's Global Risks 2013 report, which surveyed more than 1,000 experts and industry bosses and found they were slightly more pessimistic about the outlook for the decade ahead than a year earlier.
"It reflects a loss of confidence in leadership from governments," said Lee Howell, the WEF managing director responsible for the report.
Severe wealth gaps and unsustainable government finances were seen as the biggest economic threats facing the world, as they were in January last year. There was also a marked increase in focus on the dangers posed by severe weather.
The 80-page analysis of 50 risks for the next 10 years comes ahead of the WEF's annual meeting in Davos from January 23 to 27, where the rich and powerful will ponder the planet's future.
Bringing together business leaders, politicians and central bankers, Davos has come to symbolize the modern globalized world dominated by successful multinational corporations.
Chief executives arriving on their private jets may still ooze confidence but "Davos man" - and most delegates are male - has plenty to worry about these days.
"Most of the risks have gone in the wrong direction in the past year," Howell said.
On the economic front, eurozone instability will continue to shape global prospects in the coming years and the "associated risk of systemic financial failure, although limited, cannot be completely discarded," the report said.
Concerns about rising greenhouse gas emissions have grown notably in the past 12 months. The issue is ranked as the third-biggest worry overall, while failure to adapt to climate change is viewed as the biggest single environmental hazard.
Despite Europe's avoidance of a euro break-up in 2012 and the United States stepping back from its fiscal cliff, business leaders and academics fear politicians are failing to address fundamental problems.
That is the conclusion of the group's Global Risks 2013 report, which surveyed more than 1,000 experts and industry bosses and found they were slightly more pessimistic about the outlook for the decade ahead than a year earlier.
"It reflects a loss of confidence in leadership from governments," said Lee Howell, the WEF managing director responsible for the report.
Severe wealth gaps and unsustainable government finances were seen as the biggest economic threats facing the world, as they were in January last year. There was also a marked increase in focus on the dangers posed by severe weather.
The 80-page analysis of 50 risks for the next 10 years comes ahead of the WEF's annual meeting in Davos from January 23 to 27, where the rich and powerful will ponder the planet's future.
Bringing together business leaders, politicians and central bankers, Davos has come to symbolize the modern globalized world dominated by successful multinational corporations.
Chief executives arriving on their private jets may still ooze confidence but "Davos man" - and most delegates are male - has plenty to worry about these days.
"Most of the risks have gone in the wrong direction in the past year," Howell said.
On the economic front, eurozone instability will continue to shape global prospects in the coming years and the "associated risk of systemic financial failure, although limited, cannot be completely discarded," the report said.
Concerns about rising greenhouse gas emissions have grown notably in the past 12 months. The issue is ranked as the third-biggest worry overall, while failure to adapt to climate change is viewed as the biggest single environmental hazard.
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