Two distinct trends have been taking shape in recent months, within different sectors of the global economy.

Among business people, the economic future is very bright indeed. The United States has seen continuous growth since the global recession hit a decade ago, with unemployment at historic lows and the stock market at historic highs. China’s economy has performed even better, continuing the meteoric rise that began with the country’s modern wave of liberalisation.

Our own Grant Thornton International Business Report conducts worldwide surveys that poll business leaders across the world markets, and fully 54% of respondents reported feeling a sense of economic optimism in Q2 2018 – far higher numbers than in previous years. Here in Thailand, investment and trade continues to boom, with Thailand 4.0 promising a full-scale upgrade to bring infrastructure, production methods and business incentives up to a highly advanced state.

The world’s major conflicts are cooling down, education and literacy are at all-time highs, life expectancy is improving, the world of computerisation, artificial intelligence, robotics and genetic engineering is at our doorstep, a new generation of rockets and electric cars is upon us, and each day in developing countries, hundreds of thousands of people are connecting to the world of electricity for the very first time. The lights of the world are indeed turning on.

Oxford economist Max Roser has pointed out that daily newspapers would be justified in running the following headline – “NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN EXTREME POVERTY FALLS BY 137,000, SINCE YESTERDAY” – every single day for the past 25 years. Although news publications often reach wider audiences by highlighting conflict, fear and tragedy, the fact of the matter is the arc of the economic universe is long, but it bends toward prosperity. Right?