Hasta La Creative!

How do I see 2014? Tough but manageable, with a bit of incremental growth.

If we look at the growth forecast for nominal GDP at 5.5% to 6.5% or real GDP at 3.5% to 4% globally, both up from 2013 by 0.5% to 1%, the underlying environment is a bit little better. So we’re in this slow crawl out of the “Lehman” recession of 2009, which was pretty devastating for a lot of companies and people.

Of the four “gray swans” (or known unknowns) that we identified — the eurozone, Middle East, the hard/soft landing of BRIC and the U.S. deficit — three have probably got whiter and turned less grim, although there are arguments both ways. People generally feel that the eurozone, if not under total control, is under [European Central Bank President Mario] Draghi’s strong hand at the tiller. In the Middle East we’ve seen a little bit of progress with Iran and to some extent with Syria, although it’s still a big mess. Generally I think people feel a little bit more bullish, for example, about Egypt and the potential new regime there.

Continue reading at AdAge.com