ECONOMIC commentator Justin Urquhart Stewart was guest speaker at a Business Breakfast Club event held at Wherstead Park, Ipswich by law firm Ashton KCJ, banking group HSBC and chartered accountants Ensors.
He gave the audience one of his trademark no-nonsense appraisals of home and international economies, with a positive note identifying “shafts of light in leaden skies” amid the continuing gloom.
However, he also highlighted some of the potential problems ahead for the world’s biggest economies, particularly in the United States.
With the American presidential election not far off, he discussed some of the pressing problems the next president will need to address, including the 45million people on food stamps, the fact that 50% of households receive federal or state support, and the large pension deficit.
Leadership and experience would be key to making the right decisions to get economies moving in the right direction, he added.
One “shaft of light”, however, was that the USA economy is forecast to grow at 4% and has healthy corporates, said Mr Urquhart Stewart.
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