Who's Who in (European) Commerce and Industry 2009 [antikvár]

WHO'S WHO IN (EUROPEAN) COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY The international publishing company INTERCONTINENTAL BOOK AND PUBLISHING CO. LTD. and the Buchvertrieb Wockel & Co GmbH are pleased to present the new edition of WHO'S WHO IN (EUROPEAN) COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY. 2008 will go down in history as the year of the first serious recession of the 21st century. Despite a generally stable international political situation, the global economy has slowed down at an alarming pace. In the wake of the US sub-prime crisis, banks and insurance groups worldwide have suffered heavy losses. Even large traditional companies had no other choice than to declare bankruptcy (e.g. Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual) or merge with other companies (e.g. Merrill Lynch, Northern Rock, HBOS, IKB). A consequence of the global networking of financial markets is that the problems in the USA have had dramatic implications worldwide. One indicator of the sharp decline is the dramatic fali of the price of oil from over USD 150.00 for a barrel of North Sea Brent blend to just USD 40. The result of this serious crisis is that not only businesses but alsó entire states such as Iceland, Hungary and Pakistan are facing insolvency. Only bail-outs in the billions have prevented collapse of financial systems so far. Efforts to keep recession to a minimum are in progress in the form of programmes to "kick start" the economy. It remains questionable whether they will really be able to ease the consequences for the real economy. As 2008 draws to a close, European politicians face the challenge of responding to a rapid drop in business activities. The economies of all industrialised countries in Europe are threatened by recession and the pace of economic growth in the threshold countries has alsó slowed down appreciably. A drop in overall economic output is forecast for 2009 and 2010. The fact that without the financial crisis there would have been economic growth of 1 % next year only underlines the importance of guaranteeing the stability of the financial system in all circumstances. If no adequate steps are taken to achieve stability, a serious recession is likely to continue beyond 2010. In view of this risk, the massive financial efforts being undertaken by individual countries to provide the financial sector with bail-outs and sureties in the billions are absolutely vitai. Even so, recession will lead to a rising number of insolvencies and job losses. Nor will short-term measures such as consumer vouchers etc. be able to halt this process. Yet despite all these gloomy forecasts, it should not be forgottén that after every recession the world economy returned to a path of growth and prosperity. The WHO'S WHO IN (EUROPEAN) COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY is a quality guide to and clear presentation of the European corporate landscape. The first section names the TOP 100, i.e. the one hundred largest listed European companies; this is followed by a second section containing a selection of leading companies arranged according to country. The third and final section consists of the biographies of leading European executives, i.e. provides reliable information on Europe's top managers. The publisher and editor-in-chief would like to thank all those who contributed to the publication of this new edition and hope that it will be enjoyed by its readers. Berlin - Montréal December 2008