Back to the future: A rerun of 1993 in 2003?

摘要

The key issues going into 2003 look a lot like those at the beginning of 2002 -and at the beginning of the 1990s. That could mean another year of slow economic growth and relatively stable, low interest rates in the face of uncertainty about war. The names have changed, but the issues affecting the 2003 U.S. eco nomic outlook haven't changed much from 12 months ago: 1. What will be the outcome of the war against terrorism, a war that focused on Osama bin-Laden and Afghanistan at the end of 2001 and on Iraq and Saddam Hussein at the end of 2002? 2. Will this be good news or bad news for economic growth? If you ask Ed Yardeni, chief investment strategist at Prudential Financial Inc., you can go back further than that. "The similarities between 2000-2002 and 1990-92 are eerie," he says. "A president named George Bush was in the White House then and now. Saddam Hussein was Bush enemy No. 1 then and is again.