THEY SAID

This week . . . they said

.- I believe it imperative that we pursue a collective approach. Indeed, with adjustments of the scale envisaged, establishing a degree of consensus on a credible framework will help bolster confidence internally and externally – Taoiseach Brian Cowen promoting the framework document with social partners that includes a commitment to finding spending cuts of €2 billion this year

- The harsh winter will be gone and spring is around the corner – Wen Jiabao, Chinese president, maintaining a hopeful outlook on his country’s economy at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland

- Forty per cent of the world's wealth was destroyed in the last five quarters. It is an almost incomprehensible number – Stephen Schwarzman, chairman of private equity giant Blackstone Group

- I think it’s by far the most volatile period we've ever seen. . . This is unprecedented. We’re not seeing any signs of recovery yet – Ford chief financial officer Lewis Booth. The car manufacturing company announced the biggest yearly loss in its history, went through $5.5 billion in cash in the fourth-quarter alone and predicted that global vehicle sales will fall another 10 per cent this year

- The expectations for the Obama administration are off the charts. Whatever he accomplishes will be below the extraordinary expectations that people have for him – Willian Keylor, history professor at Boston University