January 2012 Macro Pulse -- Forecasting in a Blizzard

Dating in the upper Midwest during the early 1980s sometimes meant returning home in the dead of night and amidst a blinding snowstorm. There was no feeling quite like being unable to tell which ditch the car was heading toward, and -- having no cell phone -- knowing that ending up in one could mean either hours alone in a freezing cold car or a miles-long slog through the drifts.

Economic forecasting has a bit of that same feel right now. Each statistical release, news blurb and blog commentary is like a snowflake. They come in an unending flurry, swirling every which way until one has a difficult time telling whether the economy is growing or contracting, and in what direction it is likely to head. Some of those conflicting developments include…

Click here to read the entire January 2012 Macro Pulse recap.

The Macro Pulse blog is a commentary about recent economic developments affecting the forest products industry. That commentary provides context for our 24-month forecast, which is contained in the monthly Economic Outlook newsletter available through Forest2Market. The monthly Macro Pulse newsletter summarizes the previous 30 days of commentary available on this website.