As the new year gets under way, some of the world's leading economists have just wrapped up the annual American Economic Association conference in San Diego, a meeting dominated by discussion about growth after recession. One of the key recommendations of the delegates was that governments need to sort out their debt issues, or we will all face low growth prospects.
There's no doubt that high levels of debt impact on growth and speaker after speaker reinforced the magnitude of the current challenges of debt and unemployment.
While the materials handling sector seems to have escaped the worst of the economic woes, the sector is not immune and we have to keep an eye on the bigger picture.
And that's what we'll try and do in the weeks and months ahead.