GLOBAL business sentiment has worsened sharply, according to the latest Economist/FT survey of over 1,500 senior executives, conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The balance of respondents who think the world economy will improve over those who think it will worsen fell from minus 5 percentage points in April to minus 25 in July. While sentiment was still bearish in April, it had been improving (down from minus 28 in January), and suits in North America, the Middle East and Africa were even bullish. Overall, 42% of executives now reckon business conditions will worsen. Most predicted, unsurprisingly, that Europe's biggest problem will be economic uncertainty. More than 60% believe economic conditions in the euro area will get worse in the next six months. The outlook for North America is more optimistic, though with a presidential election in November that could change. Barack Obama leads Mitt Romney in every region, and by 22 percentage points overall, on the question of which candidate would be better for the world economy. An Obama presidency is also considered better for business, with strongest support coming from those in government, education and health care, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. When asked which candidate would be better for their own company, executives in every region said President Obama—except in North America where businessmen opted for President Romney by 39.3% to 31.9%.
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