Economic Clock says it's time to invest in business again!

OK - there's a guy called Darren Shirlaw I saw about three years ago presenting at a Refer-On Networking Jamboree at Mercedes-Benz World (about 200 yards from where I'm sitting typing this now, in fact). It was the early days of the downturn and he was forecasting the progress of the coming economic slump, based on looking back at past recessions and identifying the patterns on financial charts.

Yep, I thought it sounded pretty boring too. I was wrong.  He was a great speaker, and pretty much everything he said that day has since come to pass (including the UK's double dip - but not triple-dip - recession). Since then, I tend to take notice of Darren's predictions, so I was very interested to see his recent article on the Shirlaws blog about the 'Economic Clock'... read the full article here

The economic clock suggests it's time to invest in our businesses once again.

In February 2007 business leaders thought we were mad to suggest they rein in company spending and slow recruitment.  'It's time to cash up,' we said.  'But we're in a boom!,' they replied.  12 months on, the recession started to bite and businesses acknowledged that we had made a good call.

Consider the time frame

Now we are out on a counter-cyclical limb again, telling some 300 people at a recent event, 'The bad phase is done.  It's time to start investing again.'  You could have heard a pin drop in that room while the audience reflected on the global economic problems - notably the situation in Greece.

Our views on how to respond to the economy might take people by surprise sometimes.  But our commentaries make sense when you take the long view.  We are looking back 100 years or more at previous depressions to generate a deeper understanding of today's economic trends.

Our observations lead us to make two key points.

• Point one: the economy and the markets have been dislocated since 2007
• Point two: we won't go straight into a boom.

Read the whole article here: http://www.shirlawscoaching.co.uk/shirlawsresources/2012/7/9/whats-...