ESSAY CALM AFTER THE STORM
Following the deepest recession in 90 years, the global economy is roaring back to life in 2022, with worldwide GDP growth expected to hit around six per cent. Yet the euphoria is tempered by a range of rising risks: surging inflation, a potential property bust in China and, of course, resurgent Covid-19 infections. Writing in mid-October 2021, Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius warned that “the easy part of the Covid recovery is now well behind us”.
Having initially taken a hit from lockdowns and economic uncertainty, the superyacht industry has weathered the storm of 2020-21 remarkably well. The number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) globally rose despite the recession, shipyards and brokers rapidly adapted to the situation, and the appeal of having a floating luxurious getaway only increased thanks to the virus, lockdowns and travel restrictions. The industry thus enters 2022 in rude health and buoyed with optimism. But the squeeze of rising inflation is being felt – and the coming economic slowdown means that the market may not be buoyant forever.
The global economy shrank by 3.2 per cent in 2020, according to Goldman Sachs, with leading developed economies such as the US (3.4 per cent), eurozone (6.5 per cent), and UK (9.7 per cent) seeing even steeper falls. Despite this, the published by Credit Suisse shows a remarkable gain in total
