japan economy

Reviewing 2009

Counting the Cost looks at ‘the road of recovery’ and the events that shaped the year.

Watch part two

So we finally got there. 2009 is all but consigned to history, and the bankers, politicians, businesspeople, managers, accountants… oh, just about everyone is glad it is over!

COUNTING THE COST

undefined

 Watch Al Jazeera’s weekly business show
 At cruising altitude … the Dubai Airshow
 Counting the cost of Dubai’s financial crisis
 Read Al Jazeera’s business blog

At least that is my initial assessment, as I think back on this recession-hit year.

But as you will see from this week’s programme, 2009 has actually been quite a year of recovery. I often wondered at other media outlets that spoke of ‘the road to recovery’’ in their taglines.

But to be fair – since March – it has been a progressively better picture, with a few hurdles along the way of course.

Reviewing 2009

So this week we have put together a “Year in Review” programme, and we have brought some great voices on to the show to share their views on the year that was, and what might await us in 2010.

Headlining the show is Mr. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, which I personally am very pleased about (thanks Jennifer – you know who you are!) It will be interesting to see his take on a year when his own organisation ended up bailing out entire economies, let alone the banks.

Looking back at 2009 with Samah el-Shahat

Also, our own resident economist Samah el-Shahat will host a “roundtable” discussion in London with Ann Pettifor, from the New Economics Foundation, and Willem H. Buiter, from the London School of Economics. 

Mr. Buiter brings a great perspective, when you think that he was once a member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, and is now chief economist at Citigroup, a bank he himself called “a conglomeration of worst-practice from the across the financial spectrum”.

So watch out for Samah’s discussion with them and actually I would urge you to take a look back at some of Samah’s blogs for the past year as well – they make very interesting reading in this reflective end-of-year period.

Hope you can join us for the big year-ender. We are going to take a break over the New Year, but will be back bigger and better in mid January 2010.

(And if – like me – you are still intrigued by the whole Dubai debt disaster, we will manage to include a little something on that as well this week, it just would not be Counting the Cost if we did not!)

Counting the Cost can be seen each week at the following times GMT: Friday: 1430, 2030; Saturday: 0430, 1230, 1900; Sunday: 0130, 1630; Monday: 0830; Tuesday: 0600.