Byline: Jerome Idaszak
Our view of the economy isn't as gloomy as that of many others, who see the situation continuing to worsen, based largely on the belief that oil prices will stay high. We, on the other hand, expect oil prices to decline by the end of the year, helping to disperse the dark cloud that threatens to accelerate the downward spiral of job losses and reduced spending that is depressing growth.
We do expect the slump to linger, though. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth won't climb above 2% next year and may well be as close to 1% as to 2%. And the gain for this year is likely to be no more than a puny 1%.
Though positive, that will feel pretty ...