Predictions of 2008
Image: daylife.com
So maybe the country’s “best” financial minds didn’t make predictions about payday loans, but they sure did try to tell the future about a few other things. As the year winds down, Peter Coy had the right idea for looking back on some of the predictions people made about this year and pointing out just how wrong they were.
I’ve picked a few of my favorite predictions to discuss, and maybe if you’re lucky, I’ll make a few predictions of my own for 2009. After all, I can’t be more wrong than these guys.
Excuse me, Mr. President
I always think it’s funny when people say it’s unpatriotic to make fun of the president. I mean, wasn’t part of the reason he was elected because he was a “regular guy?” I say if he is a regular guy, then he is fair game for mockery, just like everyone else.
Well this year he showed just how regular he is when he said in March, “The market is in the process of correcting itself.” OK, so that is debatable, I suppose. Perhaps it is still in the process of correcting itself. Perhaps crashing, reaching record lows and recession are all part of the correction process.
Not only did he win, it was a landslide
Speaking of presidents, Shelby Steele was not alone when he predicted that Barack Obama could not be elected. I heard it from countless people — Republicans, Democrats, Whites, Hispanics, Hawaiians, you name it.
So what makes Steele’s prediction extraordinary? Well, he seems to be the only one who wrote a book about it. Wikipedia says Steele is a nonfiction author. However, after reading the title of his book published in December 2007 (“A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can’t Win”), I beg to differ.
I wonder how many copies that book sold. Perhaps Steele will have to take out payday loans to make ends meet before his next literary masterpiece hit the shelves.
How about those gas prices
Gas prices, gas prices, gas prices. For a few months there I felt like I couldn’t make it through an entire conversation about anything without gas prices coming up. It seemed the high price of gas affected so many different facets of life, it was impossible to escape.
One businessman in June predicted that the prices would continue to go up. OK, maybe not ONE businessman, but here’s what we have on record:
“I think you’ll see (oil prices at) $150 a barrel by the end of the year.”
That quote was by T. Boone Pickens, and at that time, oil was at $135 a barrel. But I don’t think Mr. Pickens was the one person who was surprised when oil prices began dropping … and dropping and dropping. Now they have hit below $40 a barrel.
2009 is lookin’ mighty fine
So what do I predict for the year to come? I predict that more people will argue that Global Warming is a myth, Michael Moore will make a documentary about alternative fuel sources and Britney Spears will have another baby.
I predict that more people will make inaccurate predictions. But I think that, just like this year, I will be glad they were wrong. And I predict I might need payday loans to make up for all the work I missed because of the snow.
Predictions are funny things, when someone guesses rights they are praised but when they get it wrong they are ridiculed. So in 2009 let’s just hope that the gas prices stay low so we don’t have to have another conversation about how high the price is.
I thought this was a great and entertaining article. There has been so much doom and gloom and I like the take on predictions. But, Brittany Spears with another little one?! Not so sure on that one. Happy New Year!
Anything is possible when it comes to Brittney Spears, I don’t doubt that there is another one on the way for her it may not be in 2009, but it will happen.
Predictions…you have to love them. You give a specific prediction, and you will most likely be wrong. Make a vague one, and you’re eventually right. I just hope that the economy doesn’t take as long as it is being predicted to get out of the recession, and that there is job growth by Fall of 2009.
I predict Britney Spears will have not one, but triplets. There, that’s my prediction.
Life is unpredictable. Anything unexpected can happen. You will never really know what tomorrow will bring. However, what you choose to do today will give you an idea of what the structure of the future will be. Good article.
Financial predictions who can foresee the future anyway? All I can predict in 2009 is not enough work, food, or money for my families survival. Payday loans and some fast cash have been a blessing to me. Thanks to Personal Money Store, I can feed my family meat instead of beans and rice. What do you think the president elect is having for dinner?
I think things will get a lot worse this year in 2009. Thats just my thoughts
We can only hope that things will not get any worse.
I love predictions, they are not educated guesses nor are they facts, so you can pretty much make up what ever you want and it won’t make a difference. I predict zombies are going to take over this year.