Worldwide company executives are worried about a recession striking the economy in 2020, according to recent survey results reported by The Wall Street Journal. Yet, the Conference Board, a business research group who conducted the survey, says global growth is expected to rise to 2.5% this year, up slightly from 2.3% in 2019 but below the 3% growth seen in 2018.
The report warns that fear of a recession may be, in fact, what spurs one.
“Business leaders are like normal people. We just don’t quite understand where this all will be going,” Bart van Ark, chief economist at the Conference Board, says in The Journal.
Global trade concerns are continuing to darken forecasts, despite an announced trade deal between the U.S. and China.
The survey of 740 CEOs ranked fear of an economic decline as their No. 1 concern going into 2020. Last year, that same fear ranked first worldwide, but third for U.S. CEOs.
Read the full report here.
