in confidence

“The drop in confidence about the year ahead reflects growing concerns that business conditions will remain tough in the coming months, largely linked to speculation that further demand-dampening measures will be introduced in the budget,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Treasury and the Federal Reserve, as a “crisis in confidence.”

"I said something to someone within my immediate circle in confidence. I said I had an illness, which was cancer," she said in the emotional post.

The fall in confidence was driven in part by a hit to profits in the third quarter, on weaker sales and an increase in material costs, the survey said.

“The overall mood is characterized by a fall in confidence in the capacity of Germany’s economic policy to tackle the pressing issues,” ZEW President Achim Wambach said.