Peter Hall

Last fall’s crisis of confidence sent worldwide gauges of business and consumer sentiment reeling. A growing sense that the global economy is no longer in freefall has recently increased the feel-good factor.

Booming commodity prices led to announcements of sizable mineral investment projects in recent years. The commodity bust saw many immediate project cancellations.

Canadian exporters have faced significant new-millennium challenges.

When it comes to Canadian exports, the Andean region – Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela – is not likely top-of-mind.

In the economic heyday of the past few years, India was a paragon of prosperity in the new era of globalisation. India’s long-term potential was even thought by many to be greater than China’s. But global recession has muffled a lot of that talk.

Recent signals from the Chinese economy have been mixed. Troubling developments in the second half of 2008 sparked fears of further fallout. But these have given way to a bevy of upbeat data in recent weeks, and with it, a more optimistic tone.

‘Up’ has crept back into US economy-talk in recent days. A quick rally in equity markets, modest commodity-price gains and what seems like a bottoming-out of certain key US economic signals have together fuelled hopes of impending rebound.

Decoupling was a popular term a year ago, used to describe how the rest of the world had unhitched from the US economic problem. It is now rich fodder for late-show humour.

Recent pessimism has created a “flat is the new up” mentality in the economy.

The adage “one month does not a trend make” was shattered in October. The speed of change in key economic indicators was breathtaking, and wasn’t confined to single economies, industries or ideologies.