"We have in general not yet recovered from the crisis of 2008," stated Pierre-Andre de Chalendar, chairman of France-headquartered building material manufacturer and distributor Saint Gobain, speaking on October 12 at the World Steel Association's (worldsteel) 45th annual meeting held in Paris. Mr. de Chalendar reminded his listeners that industrial production in the European Union and the US is still 9.5 percent and 6.4 percent below pre-crisis levels, respectively, reflecting the performance of the real economy, whereas in Brazil and Russia industrial production is now only one percent below pre-crisis levels, while an increase of 28 percent has already been registered in India compared to pre-crisis levels.
Underlining that the financial turmoil in Europe constitutes a strong crisis of confidence, Mr. de Chalendar stated that monetary union cannot work without greater economic convergence.
On the other hand, Jorgen Elmeskov, deputy chief economist and director of the policy studies branch of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), said that the current uncertainty in the financial markets is unprecedented and that global growth has slowed down, mostly due to the OECD economies. Mr. Elmeskov also said that world trade is stagnating and stressed that the most significant problem in Europe is lack of confidence.
Emphasizing the importance of structural reforms in European countries with deficits in order to achieve a sustainable solution, Elmeskov warned that, if even structural reforms are implemented at the current time, it will take three to six years to see a positive outcome.