The Nation’s Economic Outlook

THE NATION’S ECONOMIC OUTLOOK By Jack Malehorn THE NATION’S ECONOMY IN 2006 Resilient, unwavering, indefatigable all seem to best describe the Nation’s Economy as we head into the New Year, 2006, according to the Consensus Outlook. Despite catastrophic storms Katrina/Rita, relentless threats of terrorism and rising oil prices, the economy appears poised to continue rolling forward throughout the year. In fact, based on the forecast numbers, the Outlook is positive across the board. Maybe the only obvert sign of risk is associated with wider than normal diversity in the economic series deployed by the Consensus to assess the economy. To provide perspective, Rajeev Dhawan, Director of Georgia State University’s Economic Forecasting Center, calls it “An almost perfect economy.” Dhawan believes that despite the string of bad news, the economy will continue unscathed. He believes that bad news outweighs good news. With the unceasing bombardment of national and world events, our psyche has become inundated by the consecutive string of disturbances. However, after the dust settles, markets are still there and consumers still have needs and desires, and the system still works. ...