Economic Conditions, Inflation, and Macroeconomic Instability As 2026 ends, economic stress is once again the primary concern for business leaders, risk professionals, and families worldwide. Persistent inflation, tariff-driven cost increases, a cooling labor market, energy shocks from geopolitical conflict, and uncertainty over AI investment have contributed to significant macroeconomic instability. Multiple large surveys this year have economic risk at the top of the corporate agenda, even as broader forecasts still point to modest global GDP growth of around 3% into 2027, with significant downside risk. Survey Consensus: Economic Risk Ranks Near the Top Executives view the current economic environment as a major concern, as evidenced by several key 2026 surveys. The NC State University Enterprise Risk Management Initiative, in partnership with Protiviti, found that executives rank economic conditions (including price inflation) among their top near-term concerns. M...