Sage Advice Quarterly Market Review 4Q2002

As was the case earlier in the year, economists are falling all over themselves to revise their forecasts. But whereas the earlier revisions were on the upside, this time the prognosticators are embracing a more downbeat outlook. In both instances, perceptions have been altered by a familiar catalyst, namely by new data that caught the forecasting community by surprise. Since late in the third quarter, incoming data reveal a U.S. economy that has downshifted far more drastically than most anyone thought possible a few months ago.