Client behaviour

It really is a billion dollar question.

There's a common perception that consultants do well in a downturn.  Because they sell services rather than products, consulting firms are - the argument goes - better able to adapt what they do to, to fit changing economic circumstances.  Thus, in the good times, their focus is on growth and new markets; in bad times, it's on cost-cutting.

But perhaps consulting tells us more about the economic situation than we think.