Our most recent survey of economic conditions was in the field from March 7 to March 11, 2011, a week when Libya, which has the largest oil reserves in Africa,¹ fell into near civil war and oil prices fluctuated. The earthquake and tsunami in Japan, given their timing, did not have a meaningful effect on results.

Accordingly, executives are far more concerned about the effects of inflation and high commodity prices than they were in December. Yet their overall expectations for their nations’ economies and for their own companies’ prospects have changed little from three months ago, when they were slightly more positive than not.² Low consumer demand remains a concern but a much less urgent one. Also at the national level, less than 20 percent of respondents expect unemployment in their countries to increase in the next six months.