Last modified: Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Seeking prosperity in the New Year? Check the Indiana Business Review's annual forecast
Dec. 23, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INDIANAPOLIS -- To ensure prosperity in the New Year, Spanish-speaking cultures eat 12 grapes, Southerners eat greens and beans, and Italians eat a sugary fried pastry called chiacchiere. For a prosperous 2009, it may be wise to try all three, according to the outlook issue of the Kelley School of Business' Indiana Business Review. Titled "How the Economy Will Weather the Storm in 2009," the annual forecast predicts gloomy economic weather for much of the coming year.
The front cover of the Indiana Business Review's 2009 outlook.
"Recognizing that we're in uncharted territory, it is difficult to forecast what could be the case in three or four months, much less the whole year," observed John Stafford, director of the Community Research Institute at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. "We recognize that the next six to nine months will be difficult for Indiana, but we are optimistic that there are brighter days ahead as we get to the end of 2009 and hopefully for 2010. We will get through this and back to more positive economic news."
The annual outlook issue of the Review presents economic forecasts written by faculty from IU's Kelley School of Business, Indiana University Bloomington, Purdue University, Anderson University, the University of Southern Indiana, IUPU Fort Wayne, Indiana University Northwest, Indiana University Kokomo, Indiana University Southeast, Ball State University, Indiana University South Bend, and Indiana State University as well as Conexus Indiana and Lingle Real Estate.
The back cover of the issue features a weather report for Indiana and 13 metropolitan areas.
"The current volatile economic environment makes it very challenging to forecast the outlook for 2009," said Jerry Conover, director of the Indiana Business Research Center and publisher of the IBR. "Our forecasting approach benefits from sophisticated econometric models coupled with the insights of a large team of experts on different facets of the economy. Though unanticipated events can throw a wrench in any forecast, I'm glad to note that the Outlook Panel is fairly consistent in predicting better times by the end of 2009."
The latest issue of the Indiana Business Review, available online now at https://www.ibrc.indiana.edu/ibr/ and arriving in mailboxes in early January, contains predictions for 13 metropolitan areas of Indiana as well as global, national and state projections. This year's issue for the first time also contains economic forecasts for Indiana's special sectors of the economy, such as manufacturing, logistics and the automotive and life sciences industries.
