With the news that the longest boom the US has ever known is now officially over, the World Bank has warned that the global economy is now on the verge of recession. Most observers would reckon that the slide into recession has already begun. In Ireland the ESRI (Economic & Social Research Institute) has predicted that this, at present, technical recession may not last too long – the possibility of a pick-up before 2003 is their latest guesstimate. With the recent folding of Sabena (the Belgian national airline), and the Federal Reserve in the US making another ½ % cut in interest rates, the ESRI may well be displaying more optimism than most.
