At the IMF-World Bank Annual meetings in Tokyo, Japan this month, participants from the private and public financial sector gathered to assess the state of the world economy. With the Great Recession still fresh on everyone's minds and the speed of economic recovery barely making the kind of positive impact that could be felt on Main Street, the mood was sombre and pensive. As the head of the International Monetary Fund, all eyes were on Christine Lagarde to guide and prescribe a global recovery plan.
At the IMF and World Bank Group annual meetings in Tokyo, the European economic crisis was never off the agenda and often took centre stage in panel discussions. In the streets of Athens, Madrid, and in cities of other fiscal adjusting European states, there is a real belief that this new economic reality will result in a lost generation.