2009 slowdown is unavoidable

Brown Advisory's Richard Bernstein believes the era of consumer-driven economy is over

US markets are currently discounting an unprecedented 40%-50% decline in profits next year, according to Brown Advisory's Richard Bernstein. Against this background, he believes the key unknown remains whether or not the Government's stimulus package will mitigate the depth of any earnings drop-off. Bernstein, who runs the group's US Equity Value fund, says the current environment is as challenging as it has ever been and a global slowdown in 2009 is now virtually unavoidable. He cites a litany of factors combining to create the financial crisis of a lifetime, primarily poor Federal R...