The CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS panel were asked to assess some recent forecasts about global economic conditions made by Harvard financial historian Niall Ferguson and others.

Very large majorities believe that some countries like Taiwan are experiencing Depression-like conditions and that the meltdown will last far longer than most predictions because this is no ordinary recession. “It’s a crisis of excessive debt,” in the words of Professor Ferguson.

Among a list of forecasts, the business panel is least agreed about, namely that the global economy is so de-stabilizing that this will lead to civil war in some countries.

These are the key findings from this past week’s Internet survey of CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS panel. The weekly business survey is undertaken for Canadian Business magazine under sponsorship of BDO Dunwoody LLP.

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