George Magazine

2012 l 2013

George is the magazine for St.George Bank’s corporate customers. Aimed at executive-level readers, it features customer case studies, news, articles on emerging business and management trends, product information, lifestyle features and more.

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THERE YET? ARE WE BY LESLEY PARKER It's five years on and the clock is still ticking on the global financial crisis. America has only a tenuous grip on modest growth, while Europe is still centre stage. What might happen next? It started with easy credit and a housing bubble in the US and it hasn't ended yet. In stage one of the global financial crisis, governments worldwide had to bail out banks and insurance companies that bought and sold complex financial products with 'toxic' sub-prime mortgages at their heart. In stage two, governments themselves are in need of rescue as a sovereign debt crisis exposes flaws in Europe's monetary union. Australia escaped the worst of the GFC but can't entirely avoid its ripples. "People are battered and bruised because their super is lower because of the share market, their house prices are down, and all they read in the newspaper are job losses at Qantas, Holden and Telstra, and so they're concerned about their own jobs," St.George Bank Chief Economist Hans Kunnen says. "That, plus what's coming out of Europe, has engendered a whole new era of conservatism. And all that has implications for business." So what's likely to happen next? Setting aside the daily 'noise' in politics and the markets, what's the big picture? Let's look at the possible flashpoints as we follow the hands around the crisis clock.

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