HispanicBusiness

For the last three years, economic forecasters have predicted a quick turnaround. Politicians, Wall Street pundits, and researchers keep pointing forward to a time when things will get better. So far, they haven't. According to CNN, former Federal Reserve economist Lacy Hunt calls this the "mañana forecast" - an economy that always will get better tomorrow.

In his most recent congressional testimony, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan declared: "Looking ahead, the consensus expectation for a pickup in economic activity is not unreasonable, though the timing and extent of that improvement continue to be uncertain." Even for the understated Mr. Greenspan, a "not unreasonable" chance for a recovery sounds like not much chance at all.

To clarify the outlook, Hispanic Business has collected forecasts from four respected sources: The Conference Board, a New York-based research organization; the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF); and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). By scanning the forecasts (see table below) and understanding the real-world impact of the scenarios they imply, CEOs and professionals can gain a handle on strategic decision-making for the rest of 2003.