In my capacity as your roving reporter I hightailed it to Italy for a couple of days last week to see how the Europeans felt about recent economic events. I admit that this was a minor part of my reason for visiting, but it was a question worth asking, after all.
I was staying in Milan, which I was told is not a particularly pretty city but which - as a city person myself - I thought was lovely. The great thing about southern European cities is that they're all flagstone pavements, marble buildings and fountained piazzas, which hold the suggestion of a warmer, more indolent lifestyle than you could ever find in London, New York or Paris.
Actually, despite the sunny piazzas, the Milanese regard themselves as much more northern European in their outlook than their counterparts in the rest of Italy, and about a third of the population is employed in industry. Milan accounts for a mere 3 per cent of the Italian population but it contributes a quarter of the income tax revenues, so I guess they're right to consider themselves as the hard workers of Italy.
But they work hard with such style. It is, without doubt, a stylish city and the people are the best-dressed I've ever met. There are very few of the UK chain stores that populate our shopping thoroughfares in Milan, although when your native fashion industry consists of names like Versace, Gucci and Armani I suppose that Debenhams or Marks & Spencer isn't exactly top of your shopping list.
There's a small department store and a chain of cheaper stores dotted around the town, but clearly the Milanese prefer a boutique with one expensive item lovingly displayed in a window to a chain-store collection of ready-to-wear. According to the women I met as part of my business day, they are prepared to pay a lot of money to look well in Milan and the effect is stunning.
By the way, for the readers of my column with small feet, Milan is a place where you can ask for a size three and not be looked at as though you're a freak. I contributed to the local economy by buying a good number of size threes - which is a 35 continental and not 36 as so many Irish shoe shops would like you to believe - and, though I did pay for the privilege, it was money well spent.
Anyway, back to the economics, Lombardy is a prosperous region of Italy and, as yet, nobody is worrying too much about the downturn in world markets and how it will affect them. They've invested heavily in telecom technology but not necessarily in dotcom technology. Unlike Ireland and the UK you can have an "always on" high-speed line without too much trouble and expense, which is great for both business and consumers alike.
Nevertheless, the global downturn will ultimately have some impact and they're prepared for it, while still not being convinced about it. Presumably the fashion industry assumes that the women of uptown New York will continue to shell out big sums for their favourite designers even if they're not as rich as they were last year. The euro's renewed decline will, at least, mean that exported goods are that bit less expensive, although whether that's good or bad if you're buying into an aspirational lifestyle is, perhaps, debatable.
But I'm starting to despair about the value of the euro and the wit of the ECB again.
Meanwhile it seems as if London isn't going to escape the job-cut scenario if the recent survey by UK Centre for Economics and Business Research is accurate. It concludes that the mayhem in stock markets will lead to about 20,000 jobs being cut in London over the next year. It's not unexpected, given that many of the jobs over the past few years have been as a result of merger and acquisition activity, which always slumps when the markets fall.
Which, presumably, will lead to a few more wine bars and coffee shops disappearing too, as the knock-on effect filter into the rest of the economy.
No sign of that in the IFSC yet, though, where demand still exceeds supply in the drink and doughnut departments.
Better late than never too, has been the arrival of the soon-to-open SanoVitae gym so that tense traders can work off their frustrations on the treadmill. You may remember I championed the cause of a gym in the IFSC while I worked there, although I had some misgivings about colleagues seeing me in shorts and cropped tops.
For less sensitive souls, the gym offers the usual range of facilities and is managed by our badminton representative at the Sydney Olympics, Sonya McGinn. A word of warning to ex-friends and colleagues who will look at Sonya and think that she's a nice girl who keeps herself in good shape.
Do not for a second think that you will outdo her on the stepper or the treadmill or any other type of machine.
However, there's always the sauna and the swimming pool where you can pretend that you're working out but, in reality, you can just take a break from wondering whether there's still a market left to go back to and whether that means it's going to be Armani or Autograph in your wardrobe.
