ROCKY RIDE FOR SME

ECONOMIST and Queensland Investment chief Doug McTaggart says Queensland’s recovery will spur pending US improvements and not China, while local SMEs will continue to do it tough for some time yet.

This despite a possible double dip recession in the US.

“The US consumer strike is over and while they led us into the GFC, they will be the ones to lead us out of it. Look to the east, not to the west,” says McTaggart.

“While a big risk remains for the labour market, the overall theme is one of stabilisation in the US. The process of reinventing itself every decade or so ensures that the US remains the most efficient economy in the globe.”

Speaking at a recent CCIQ event, McTaggart lamented the significance of past events and also took a swipe at resource rich exporters.

“I have not seen the environment the way that it is right now, there’s so much policy and uncertainty. High profit groups are running their own campaigns.”

He cited past ‘villains’ such as Alan Greenspan and Mahatma Gandhi as proponents of civil disobedience and suggested similar parallels to Australia’s largest mining companies.

In Queensland he predicted tough times ahead for smaller business operators as they continue to feel the pinch while the state emerges caterpillar-like from an output hiatus.

“Confidence is still weak for smaller business, it’s a very tough market and access to credit remains tight,” he says.