The confidence of executives in the global economy has risen for the first time in two years, the latest McKinsey Quarterly global survey shows.¹ In addition, although the economies of China and India are booming, executives in those countries display markedly different levels of confidence.

For the first time in two years, executive confidence in the global economy has risen (Exhibit 1), propelled by a significant rebound, over the past three months, in the confidence of US executives in their country's economy.

US executives shook off their earlier pessimism as US fuel prices declined, consumers became more optimistic, and the dollar's value rose. Thus US executives are again among the most confident in their home economy (Exhibit 2). Their expectations for the six months ahead are on a par with those of their counterparts elsewhere. Executives around the world are more confident than not, though global confidence remains markedly lower than it was when we first...