Riding out the storm

The world’s economies are facing one of their most difficult periods since the global financial crisis, and Asia is unlikely to escape the consequences. George W Russell asks legal experts how clients can mitigate the damage from global headwinds impacting their operations

Asia faces not only a cryptocurrency winter, but also the chill of an economic slowdown accelerated by Russia’s war on Ukraine, lingering covid-19 lockdowns in China, and spiraling inflation across much of the world.

US corporations in China have cut their revenue projections, according to the American Chamber of Commerce, while many European companies plan to downsize operations. That sentiment is echoed in a wider global “misery index” says Keith Wade, chief economist and chief strategist at Schroders in London.

“The ‘misery index’, an economic indicator that helps determine how the average citizen is doing economically, is now in the highest 20% of readings across almost 50 years,” says Wade. “We’re effectively at the early stages of an economic slowdown.”