The world economy no longer moves in cycles. It trembles, reacts, and ricochets. Inflation surges in one hemisphere, a tariff war ignites in another, acyberattack freezes a third - and within weeks, the shockwaves collide. What once were distant markets are now tightly wound circuits. In such a world, forecasting feels naïve and stability, nostalgic.
Professor Rudy Aernoudt, one of Europe’s most distinctive economic thinkers, argues thatwe are living through a perma-crisis - a constant state of global turbulence that demands a new kind of leadership. His perspective is shaped not only by academic depth - as professor at Ghent and Nancy Universities and at BMI Executive Institute - but also by decades of policy work at the European Commission and within national governments. Aernoudt’s voice is pragmatic, sharp, and distinctly European: less about panic, more about perspective.
In this exclusive four-part series for Benelux–Baltics in Business, Professor Aernoudt examines how global shocks translate into local realities - and how companies can adapt, not by predicting the next crisis, but by becoming resilient enough to absorb it.
The first article, “The Age of Perma-Crisis,” maps the end of economic stability and the rise of permanent disruption.
The second, “Macroeconomic Turbulence,” connects the dots between Washington, Beijing, Moscow, and Brussels - and explains why every shift in one capital affects EBITDA in another.
The third, “From Excel to Foresight,” explores how companies can replacelinear forecasts with scenario planning and strategic imagination.
And the final essay, “From Unicorns to Zebras,” outlines a distinctly European answer to global capitalism: value-driven, socially conscious, and built forthe long run.
Together, these essays form a manifesto for business leaders navigating uncertainty - acall to move beyond short-term gains and toward structural resilience. Because in the age of perma-crisis, survival is not about predicting the storm, but about building the vessel strong enough to endure it.
