What difference a year makes. Nearly 30 percent of business leaders believe that global economic growth will decline in the next 12 months, approximately six times the level of 5 percent last year – a record jump in pessimism. This is one of the key findings of PwC’s 22nd annual survey of 1,300 plus CEOs around the world, launched recently at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. This is in vivid contrast to last year’s record jump, 29 percent to 57 percent, in optimism about global economic growth prospects.