20 | PwC’s 21st CEO Survey If you look at the history of the world Of course, there are regional differences. over the past 100 years, you see it By and large, Asia-Pacific CEOs tend to going back and forth between the be more sanguine in their assessment of opening of economies and the closing globalisation’s benefits (see Exhibit 10). of economies. Episodes of anti- For example, nearly 70% of Asia-Pacific globalisation come and go as political CEOs believe globalisation has helped – at least somewhat – to close the wealth gap. points of view change. But today we Asia-Pacific is also the most positive about operate in a connected world. Even climate change; 27% of CEOs there believe the most inward-looking governments globalisation has helped avert it ‘to a large cannot block how people talk on their extent’, double the proportion in most other cellphones. regions and nine times the proportion in ’ernar†o „ar‘as “isone ‚resi†ent ” E­ oˆ IS‰ North America. •atin ‰merican inˆrastr–ct–re con‘lomerate