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I must admit that the optimism of business leaders around the world evident in our quarterly International Business Report (IBR) economic update was almost as surprising as it was pleasing.

We launched our annual M&A report – ‘Dynamic businesses at the forefront of M&A optimism’ – in Hong Kong last week. The report has provoked a good deal of debate and I just wanted to share two highlights from the data.

Denmark has made some fantastic television dramas over the past few years. ‘The Killing’ and ‘Borgen’ have been compulsive viewing in the Lagerberg household. Both place intelligent, strident women as the main characters and, in the case of political drama, Borgen, imitate life itself by prophetically telling the tale of a female Prime Minister – Helle Thorning-Schmidt becoming the first Prime Minister of Denmark in 2011.

GrowthiQ: Insights to help your business grow

I read a fascinating article in the Wall Street Journal the other day which suggested that my region could broadly be thought of as two separate entities.

I was interviewed this week by CNBC and BBC World News to discuss the economic outlook for 2014, drawing on the views of 3,500 senior executives in 45 economies we interview for our International Business Report (IBR).

According to our Global Dynamism Index (GDI) 2013, Australia is the economy businesses should be looking at. It climbed to the top of the ranking of 60 of the largest economies in the world this year, up from seventh place in 2012.

Having been Managing Partner of Grant Thornton Ireland for 9 years, I was naturally drawn to the mixed views of Irish businesses in our 2013 Future of Europe report which we released this week. The report revealed much support for what the euro has achieved, but very little appetite for further integration.

The Q1 IBR economic update contained a major surprise: For the first time, not one of the BRIC economies made it into the top five for business optimism.

Our annual look at M&A sentiment around the world shows that the shift in acquisitive focus amongst businesses uncovered last year – from domestic to cross-border – is becoming increasingly popular as a key strategy for companies looking to facilitate growth.