As a tumultuous year draws to a close, executives are moderately hopeful about their nations’ economies and their companies’ prospects, according to a survey in the field during the second week of December.1 Just over half of executives continue to say economic conditions are now better than they were in September 2008, and for the first time this year a majority expect customer demand for their companies’ products or services to rise in the near term. In addition, notably more are seeking—and getting—external funding than have done so in more than a year. And after reporting a striking shift in favor of short-term planning early in 2009, executives say their companies are once again able to plan for the medium and long term—but also that they remain wary, assessing more options and checking progress more frequently than they did before the crisis.
This survey also included some questions on currency volatility and reserve currencies. Nearly a third say that exchange rates today have an “extremely” or “very significant” effect on their profits. Further, executives expect greater future volatility in exchange rates as well as significant changes to global exchange rate arrangements in the coming years—only 18 percent expect that the US dollar will still be the dominant reserve currency in 2025.2