What a year it has been! The 2008 Abacus Convention, twelve months ago in Darwin, took place in the immediate aftermath of a period of genuine trauma in global financial markets.  That period began with the failure of Lehman Brothers and culminated in a series of emergency measures by central banks and governments around the globe, including the public rescue of some major financial institutions.  These emergency measures proved to be an essential short‑circuit in restoring market stability and their positive real impacts are still being felt.  Despite their scale, however, the measures were not sufficient to prevent a substantial collapse of investor and consumer confidence in major advanced economies, which quickly spilled over to economic activity and trade flows, as well as to equity markets.  At the end of 2008, the pall of gloom that had descended over the global economy remained thick.

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