As the old joke goes, if you put 10 economists in a room, you’ll get 11 different opinions.
Never has that joke held more truth than today as economists try to interpret a slew of key variables and predict the economic prospects for the United States in 2021.
Morgan Stanley recently stated the “V-shaped” recovery is on track, and the firm predicts real GDP growth of 5.9 percent for the United States in 2021. Most investment firms and researchers are hedging their bets when trying to peg GDP; their forecasts often include a base-case scenario, an optimistic scenario and a worst-case scenario.
Economists surveyed by Wolters Kluwer Blue Chip Economic Indicators predict the U.S. economy will grow at an annual rate of 4 percent.
The consensus forecast from leading economist stands at 3.8 percent.
Most economists predict things will be looking up in 2021, not a difficult prediction considering the economy contracted by an estimated 3.5 percent in 2