Do you think the result of the us presidential election will affect the UK?
JOHN WILLIAMS
ISG
Yes I do. Whichever way they take the United States economy – and there’s two quite diverse opinions with the two candidates – then directly, rather than indirectly it will affect the way the UK recovery will be required to go. Their policy will drive how we recover – we have to respond to their policy.
MICHAEL WOODBRIDGE
BADENOCH & CLARK
Not massively. Based on what I’ve been reading it looks as though Barack Obama is fairly secure. While I suppose he traditionally hasn’t liked the UK due to the Kenyan connection, I think that his policies are probably not going to be that different to Mitt Romney. I probably [will be watching] but not that closely.
STEFANO CAVALLERI
GE CAPITAL
I think it will. It’s just because the two countries have lots of powerful links. The two economies are more interlinked than you might think. Will the markets be watching? Absolutely. I think this election is going to affect funding for institutions and affect doing business in Europe – the two [candidates’] programmes are rather different.