What a wonderful world!
When it comes to the global economy, there’s much to be optimistic about was Jonathan Pain’s message at Matthews Steer’s Wealth Insights event at Moonee Valley Racecourse on 26 May 2016.
Conducting a whistle-stop world tour, Pain cast his magnifying glass over the world’s economic powerhouses, beseeching his audience to take doom and gloom media forecasts with a pinch of salt because “bad news sells newspapers”.
Citing a rallying US economy, slow but steady recovery in Europe and “China’s critical role in Australia coming through the Western Financial Crisis as it did (by) launching the largest fiscal stimulation program in history,” Pain turned his attention to emerging economies.
“It’s very good news for the world that India is moving ahead so strongly,” said Pain, predicting that the world’s second most populous country “will grow faster than China for decades to come”.
Australia’s geo-proximity to the rising Asian middle classes in Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh and the Philippines means not only that we have a front seat to “witness the most remarkable economic phenomenon of any time in history,” but that huge opportunities are opening up for Australian businesses. Chinese and Indian consumers will spend $10-trillion by 2020 and rising incomes in Asia, and Australia’s green and clean reputation, equal huge prospects for trade and exports within the region.
Our economic future is not without obstacles, however. Pain cited emerging market debt, including accelerating corporate debt levels in China, and the efficiency and omnipotence of monetary policy, as challenges and potential handbrakes to growth to be faced by the world economy in the next five years.
In spite of these potential roadblocks, improved education, ideological unification, the increasing irrelevance of race, gender and sexual orientation, and improved connectivity and transparency brought by the digital age mean “the decades ahead will see an era of prosperity, enlightenment and opportunity that very few are predicting,” said Pain.
What a wonderful world!
Click here to view Jonathan Pain's What a Wonderful World presentation.
For information about Matthews Steer's Wealth Insights events please email info@matsteer.com.au