The positive Constitutional Court ruling for the government and the AKP removes considerable uncertainty from the country. The economy will benefit from this. Other challenges remain, e.g. the international capital markets have hit choppy waters in the wake of the subprime crisis in the US. How will Turkey accomplish the balancing act between the tricky domestic political situation and the confidence of international investors upon which it relies given its substantial foreign capital requirements?

For years now China’s economic momentum has been cracking all records. But it is now increasingly being mooted that China could be hit by a sharp slump in growth after the Olympic Games. Is the Chinese economy heading for a hard landing?

Russia‘s economic growth exceeded 8 % in 2007, almost reminiscent of Chinese growth rates. No one, including ourselves, had expected such economic momentum. The economic success is attributable primarily to the surge in energy prices which, albeit in aweaker form, have propelled aggregate demand. But to attribute the booming economy solely to oil and gas would certainly overlook other factors. In Russia‘s major cities, the private service sector is flourishing - not surprisingly, given the country‘s great need to recover lost ground. And, as is currently the case in nearly every emerging market, the construction industry is booming.

There are growing signs that the economy in Africa is taking off. This is all the more encouraging given the many disappointments in the continent‘s recent economic past. Natural catastrophes, famine, civil wars, corruption and excessive debt threw sub-SaharanAfrica behind other developing regions and prompted international companies to avoid the continent when developing their business strategies. Temporary glimmers of hope, e.g. the adoption by a number of countries of a market economy following the collapse of the Soviet Union, were generally followed by disappointment, with deteriorating external conditions - such as a collapse in commodity prices - frequently standing in the way of an upswing. Is the latest germ of economic recovery likely to experience the same fate? Or do key factors suggest that the sub-Saharan African economy will latch on to the momentum of Asia and Latin America and that emerging markets will develop from the African developing nations? In the course of this study we will weigh up the negative and the positive factors and attempt to derive from them the long-term trends of economic growth.

In 2007 earnings of the 30 DAX-listed companies rose sharply. Will this positive trend continue this year? In our Working Paper “No grounds for earnings pessimism” we come to the conclusion that, after four years of brisk increases, the trend in 2008 is likely to be more moderate. But it is encouraging that, even in such a tempestuous year as 2008, the upward trend in earnings will probably not be interrupted.

Following what was probably a fairly buoyant first quarter the German economy is likely to lose momentum in the coming months. Fundamentally, however, it will remain on an expansion path. Given healthy labor market figures and rising wages, private consumption is set to provide a substantial boost in 2008 having languished for years.