Advertisement

The Economy In 2013

The US economy in 2013. We’ll look at the bright spots, red flags and big trends for the year ahead.

Traders wear "2013" glasses as they work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York. (AP)
Traders wear "2013" glasses as they work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York. (AP)

Americans have been waiting a long time now for better economic times to really hit.  Could 2013 be the year?

We’re in it.  We’ve got a fiscal cliff deal - sort of, by the skin of our teeth.  American business is sitting on a huge pile of money it could invest.  Housing seems to be firming up.  Interest rates and inflation remain low.  Maybe this is economic take-off time.

On the other hand, we’ve got no deal on spending yet.  We’ve got more cliffs ahead.  We’ve got an aging workforce.  We’ve got issues.

This hour, On Point:  Happy New Year!  We’re looking at jobs, your money, and the US economy, 2013.
-Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Rob Arnott, founder and chairman of Research Affiliates.

Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial.

From Tom's Reading List

The Financial Times "Global markets weathered some huge uncertainties in 2012, of which the biggest were the intensification of the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, doubts over the outlook for the Chinese economy, and worries about the US fiscal cliff. What might 2013 bring?"

National Journal "Moody's chief economist Mark Zandi cites three reasons to be bullish about the U.S. economy: a housing revival, the end of deleveraging, and a healthy corporate sector that will be ready to invest in 2013. CFR's A. Michael Spence also thinks that 2013 augurs better for the world economy but cautions that lagging employment and income inequality will hamper a robust recovery."

Bloomberg Businessweek "It’s that time of year again: Experts of all kinds are coming out of the woodwork to offer up forecasts and predictions for the year ahead. It can be amusing, but this is not the most productive way to think about the future."

This program aired on January 2, 2013. The audio for this program is not available.

Advertisement

More from On Point

Listen Live
Close