Special question in the World Economic Survey Q3 2018 – How Well-Prepared Are Economies across the World for a New Financial Crisis?

In response to the financial crisis, many countries changed their policies and the regulation of their financial sectors. To assess whether these reforms made the economies of these countries more resilient, the World Economic Survey (WES) III/2018 asked survey participants for their assessment. The results show, among other things, that although there is still much room for improvement, the majority of experts see their national economies better prepared for a crisis. 22.5% of respondents believe that their countries are now in a better position to respond to a financial crisis than prior to 2007, while 38.7% stated they were now somewhat better prepared. By contrast, 24.6% of respondents felt that their countries were less well prepared. Within each of the country aggregates, most experts said the economy was reasonably well-prepared for another financial crisis. Experts in countries that were hit particularly hard by the crisis or its after-effects were clearly less optimistic.