The international research company, Ipsos Global Public Affairs, conducted a survey to determine the sentiment in emerging market countries including China, India, and Russia. They found it to be deteriorating rapidly. Consumer optimism dropped to 31% in November compared with a year ago. The largest drops were in China and India, with China dropping to 46% from 90% 18 months ago, and India dropping to 65% from a previous 88%.
One big factor for the drop in sentiment has been the sharp drop in crude oil prices from $147 per barrel to under $40 per barrel. It had a strong psychological impact on emerging market economies and brought home the notion that they were not immune from the worldwide economic slowdown.
Ipsos also surveyed 22 Western developed countries and found that nearly 75% of people were cutting back on entertainment, vacations, and luxury items.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-28-2008 @ 6:59PM
william lindblad said...
There is an old adage that is economically related.
"when one catches a cold, the other begins to sneeze". This directly pertains to the U.S. and the U.K. Today, it's a little different. The U.S. was the powerhouse economy and it does not have a cold - it has the flu, and it is in the pandemic sense.
Everything that you see across the world is directly, or indirectly related to the "so called" sub prime fiasco. I really don't understand the media as any jackass would know that the bottom end of the housing market is not where multi billion dollar investment is made. We are not here because of loans that should have been FHA/HUD fodder, but because of loans made to people with resources.
By the way, this idiocy was not confined to the U.S. This is at the base of the overall problem. The only likely solution is for the major economic powers to agree on a singular strategy and fight unified. If they(and we) continue to operate as loners the result will be far greater than the 1930's.
12-29-2008 @ 7:10AM
Kerri said...
Don't let any of this get to you. Do what I did, and learn to trade the Forex. You can get a free $100,000 demo trading account at http://forex-currencyexchange.com Click the link in the top left corner if I remember right. It will take you to a sign up page where all you have to do is give your name and email. You can then start practicing trading. Trading with virtual money is so much fun... and addicting. The only problem is, more often than not, you will be wishing you were trading with real money. You never know, this may be something that you have a knack for.
Happy New Year