2010 - could be better than you think

If you´ve had a tough year in the office and have spent the past couple of days trying to fly out of an Irish or British airport you could be forgiven for missing this - but the world economy hasn´t done too badly at all this year. The Economist magazine estimates that it has grown by 5% - which is way above what people were forecasting in 2008 and 2009.

Manufacturing is up, global stock markets are doing well and the big fears of double dip recessions in the US & UK never materialised. The economies of Germany, Brazil, China and India - big players all - have been tearing through 2010.

Not so good if live in the wrong part of the EU

While Germany is putting a nice shine on the overall EU performance, the nations on its periphery (Ireland, Portugal, Greece and Spain) are facing a very grim 2011 and all still have the potential to wreak more havoc in Europe and beyond.

Additionally, Europe´s existing banking model is (in my opinion) unfit for purpose and needs serious alterations. Some banks are sick and some are healthy, but almost all have either borrowed from or lent huge sums of money to vulnerable EU economies. A bickering and fractious EU leadership does not inspire confidence at a time when new shocks and major political decisions are almost certainly imminent.

Warm Regards

Colin