As Sir Anthony O'Reilly, Chairman of Waterford Wedgwood, noted in a recent speech that they are operating against a "backdrop of unprecedented broad-based economic uncertainty."

This economic uncertainty has had a global impact. From the high rates of business bankruptcies in the United States, to the financial collapse of one of the previously richest countries in the world -- Iceland, to the 11.2 million percent inflation rate of Zimbabwe, no corner of the globe is untouched by the massive liquidation cycle in which the global economy appears to be.

Consumer confidence has declined. Banks have lost faith in one another. Currencies around the world, such as the American dollar, weakened considerably.

And, despite Waterford Wedgwood's more than two hundred years of setting industry standards, the organization must now operate in an economic environment that appears to work directly against their primary products -- luxury lifestyle items.

Yet, despite these trying...
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