As I said… we are far from the end. For all the naïve people, good luck.
Some time ago we were making a prediction – “Black January” (nothing to do with the new US president…). See here some of the many snippets of news – just today:
Beijing said urban unemployment might rise to an almost 30-year high.
“We are in the middle of the economic Pearl Harbour right now,” Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett told NBC in an interview aired on Sunday 18 January. “Now we have to get mobilised to win the war.”
Singapore said this week it is facing its worst-ever recession, and cut the economic outlook for 2009 to a contraction of between 2.0 and 5.0%. The downgrade is the second this month and reflects a faster and deeper decline in global economic activity, and stronger “spillover effects” on key sectors of the domestic economy, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said.
Mining giant BHP Billiton announced plans to slash its global work force by 6% – about 6,000 jobs – as it rushes to cope with plummeting demand because of the global financial crisis.
The United States‘ financial losses from the credit crisis might reach US$ 3.6 trillion, suggesting the banking system was “effectively insolvent”, said New York University professor Nouriel Roubini: “I’ve found that credit losses could peak at a level of US$3.6 trillion for US institutions, 50% of them by banks and broker dealers. If that’s true, it means the US banking system is effectively insolvent because it starts with a capital of US$1.4 trillion. This is a systemic banking crisis.
Losses and write-downs at financial companies worldwide have risen to more than US$1 trillion since the US subprime mortgage market collapsed in 2007.
Japanese government officials: Japanese consumer confidence fell to a record low last month as the country’s first recession in seven years heightened concerns about jobs and income, and the government cut its economic assessment for the fourth consecutive month. The world’s No 2 economy could deteriorate further if the financial crisis deepened and stock and currency markets stayed volatile. The economy is worsening rapidly. All economic indicators point to a rapid deterioration. It’s hard to imagine a recovery in the next few months. What’s unique about this recession is that it’s very steep. I can’t say when the downturn will hit bottom.