Ian Swanson - Darling's upbeat message

CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling had an upbeat message for Edinburgh business leaders when he spoke at a dinner organised by the Chamber of Commerce at the EICC last night.
He argued the financial sector would recover and with Edinburgh second only to London as a banking centre, the city had great opportunities ahead.
"Make no mistake, there is a difficult year ahead,” he said. “But the world economy will recover. It is expected by some to double over the next 20 years.
“And I am confident that, as part of the UK, the Scottish financial services sector will continue to succeed because of its capacity to innovate, safeguard investments and improve its operations. “Here in Edinburgh, it has been a world financial centre for over 300 years. It has many successful, vibrant businesses.
“Ours is an adaptable, open, cosmopolitan city. Let’s be confident that we can deal with the problems we face and let’s be confident about out future.”
Some might label Mr Darling's comments over-optimistic. But perhaps the Chancellor's analysis is worth listening to. After all, he was the one who told us in the summer we were facing the worst economic downturn in 60 years and was slated for saying so.