The vast majority of chief executives are gloomier about U.S. economic prospects than a year earlier, and top company officials have become more downbeat than the public at large, according to a survey released on Wednesday.
Some 90 percent of chief executives described U.S. economic conditions as fair or poor, up from 16 percent a year earlier, according to NYSE Euronext’s (NYX.N)(NYX.PA) fourth annual CEO survey, “Managing During Economic Turbulence.”
The survey was conducted in March, when housing and credit conditions were better than they are now. Just 83 percent of U.S. adults polled at that time felt the economy wasn’t in good shape.
The survey included 184 CEOs from the United States and 70 from other countries. Sixty percent of respondents run companies with market values of $1 billion or more.
Americans in general soured on the economy sooner than many corporate chiefs. Last year, 63 percent of adults thought conditions were fair or poor, compared with 16 percent of CEOs.
Oh dear, maybe their fat cat golden parachutes are in jeapardy! They will only get a $5 Million severence when their company goes bankrupt instead of that $7 Million they were counting on. Cue the violins and crocodile tears.