Word: caution
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SAUDI ARABIA. After decades of relying on caution and massive infusions of money to soothe restive neighbors, Riyadh's room for maneuvering has severely shrunk. King Fahd, who characterized Iraq's adventuring as the "most horrible aggression the Arab nation has known in its modern history," faced a Hobson's choice: he could go it alone, leaving his small and scattered army to answer Iraq's battle-hardened troops, or he could call in the U.S. and lay bare his ties. Courageous as Westerners find him, Fahd can hardly dispute Saddam's < charge: "The joint policy with the foreigner...
...That caution did not stifle the warnings from Washington that an attack on Saudi Arabia would trigger a wider war. Such a move by Iraq, said Speaker of the House Thomas Foley, "would call for a direct military response by the United States...
European banks are facing the rest of the world with some caution. The unified 12-nation European Community market of 1992 is expected to mean the closing of many European banks long coddled by national laws that kept out foreign competition. "A huge number of institutions, perhaps as many as half, will disappear or merge as the domestic market is rationalized," says Christopher Toole, an analyst with Country NatWest Bank in London. Adds Robert Poldermans of the accounting firm Arthur D. Little: "Europe has too many midsize banks and not enough giants, too many local customers and not enough Europeans...
...privately held Montgomery Ward (1989 sales: $5 billion), chairman Bernard Brennan sees the new consumer caution in the declining sales of such big- ticket items as appliances and furniture, usually two of his company's strongest categories. Says he: "People are beginning to worry. They are reading more today about factory layoffs and companies failing because of the debt restructuring of the '80s. There's a great deal of unrest out there about job security and even levels...
...consumer caution bad for the U.S. economy? In the long run, a renewed emphasis on savings, and a preference for products that work over those that impress can only be healthy. If U.S. manufacturers and service firms find that they must offer greater value to win customers at home, they will be learning lessons that should improve their chances of doing business abroad. Frenetic consumers who spent much of the decade trying to have it all and wondering how to deal with the resulting stress may find unexpected serenity in their backyards. A touch of the tightwad is a much...