Businesses 'battening down the hatches' amid gloomy outlook
– Graeme Leach, chief economist at the Institute of DirectorsBusiness is battening down the hatches in the expectation that the recession will continue for the rest of the year. That is bad news for the economy at large, because decisions to invest money or take on more staff are being postponed until things look up. Low confidence leads to delayed decisions, and delayed decisions further undermine economic confidence - it's a vicious cycle. At the same time, the Government's reform agenda is pointing in broadly the right direction, but the overwhelming opinion of our members is that they are doing too little, too slowly.
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