U.S. CEOs say in a new survey that geopolitical risk, the country's ballooning national debt, is the biggest concern for business this year ahead of wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
According to The Conference Board's C-Suite Outlook 2024 survey of CEOs and executives, the likelihood of an increase in cyber attacks is second only to geopolitical concerns.
Mideast war is the third-biggest geopolitical concern for U.S. CEOs, followed by energy, amid growing concerns that the conflict between Israel and Hamas could continue and escalate into a larger regional conflict. The investigation revealed that it was due to price hikes and the war in Ukraine.
Concerns about the U.S. national debt are growing after the debt mountain reached a new milestone late last year, surpassing $34 trillion for the first time on Dec. 29.
Of the external factors that CEOs and executives believe will have the biggest impact on their businesses this year, economic recession or recession is at the top of the list for business leaders in the U.S. and around the world, followed by inflation.
However, only 37% of U.S. CEOs and 27% of global CEOs said they were prepared to handle a recession, the survey found.
Although concerns about inflation and economic conditions remain, financial markets are fairly confident that the U.S. economy has hit a soft landing, as inflation has eased without causing the recession that many economists had previously expected. It seems so.
Following Friday's surprisingly strong December jobs report, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen echoed those assessments, saying, “I think what we're seeing now can be described as a soft landing.”
The Conference Board surveyed 1,247 executives, including 630 CEOs, in October and November about their Executive Outlook 2024.
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