(January 3 – 12:00 ET) – “Economists, practitioners of the so-called dismal science, are anything but gloomy on the prospects for the year-2000 economy. In fact, they are downright euphoric — and that in itself could be a caution sign,” writes Constance Ford in Monday’s Wall Street Journal.
“Nearly all of the economists in The Wall Street Journal’s semiannual economic-forecasting survey believe that strong consumer spending, rising business productivity and tame inflation will keep the U.S. economy humming through the year 2000 — shattering records for the longest economic expansion in U.S. history.
“The consensus forecast for the 53 economists in the survey calls for annualized growth in inflation-adjusted gross domestic product of 2.6% in the first quarter and 3.1% in the second, third and fourth quarters. Although they expect growth to slow from last year’s torrid pace, mainly because higher interest rates will damp spending on housing and other interest-rate-sensitive sectors, the projections for the year 2000 are nevertheless healthy,” says the Journal.