Global Risks 2008 Report Highlights the Need for New Thinking and Concerted Action in a Number of Problem Areas

The Global Risks Network is a program in which MMC has been working in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, Citigroup, Swiss Re, Zurich Financial Services, and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School Risk Center to identify major global risks, assess their economic impact, and develop mitigation solutions. The risks identified are global in scope, have cross-industry implications, and significant economic and social impact.

Each year the Global Risks Network captures its findings in the Global Risks Report. This year's report highlights the need for new thinking and concerted action in a number of problem areas. It expresses fears that the current liquidity crunch will spark a U.S. recession in the next 12 months, and calls for new thinking on systemic financial risk in response to the revolution in financial markets over the last two decades. The report recommends a set of principles for country risk management and examines how the financial sector might take on an increasingly important role in risk transfer in the future.

The report also warns that food security will become an increasingly complex political and economic problem over the next few years, with issues of equity and trade offs between security and other issues making the design of global policy both difficult and necessary. Greater co-operation on managing vulnerabilities associated with cross-border supply chains and concentrations of production may also be needed. Finally, with the dollar price of oil at record highs, the report recommends an improved approach to securing viable energy supplies in the years ahead.

 Register to download the Global Risks 2008 Report.