News that Billy Idol (or was it Billy Kristol, I forget) has been offered a op-ed slot at the New York Times brought home the fact that Brooks, Broder, Krauthammer, Hiatt, Novak are not aberrations, and that the standards for punditry are in fact very low.
So, what the heck, I gave myself ten minutes to come up with ten very tame predictions for 2008. Let’s see how I do. (I took extra time to add the links.)
International
1. We’ll still be in two wars at the end of the year. Iraq and Afghanistan are not going to end. US soldiers and many foreign and domestic civilians will die due to war-related injuries. (Confidence: total.)
2. The selloff of US assets, both financial and non-financial, will accelerate in 2008. Media commentary will continue to celebrate it as a solution to short-term problems (insolvency, trade deficit, falling dollar) without noticing that it is the cause of multiple long-term problems (structural trade deficit as revenues flow abroad; moving of never center of corporate control off-shore; strategic reduction in both domestic and international policy flexibility). (Confidence: very high.)
POLITICS
3. The Presidential election will not be the Democratic blow-out so many pundits are currently predicting. A Democrat will win, but not by a landslide. (Confidence: moderate.)
4. We will elect a Democratic Congress for the first time since 1994. (That is not a typo – what we have not is not in very many meaningful senses a Democratic Congress). (Confidence: moderate.)
5. The Republican party will adopt the Democratic tactic known as the “circular firing squad.” But the Democratic party will not learn to be as disciplined as the GOP of the 80s, 90s or even the first half of the 2000's. (Confidence: very high.)
ECONOMICS
6. Contrary to the upbeat predictions in my local paper (“Horrible year for housing should not repeat in '08”), the housing market will tank worse in 2008 than it did in 2007. (Confidence: total.)
7. By the end of 2008,the US will be or will have been in a recession. (Confidence: very high.)
8. The Fed will respond aggressively, inflation will rise, and economists will be worrying loudly about stagflation. (Confidence: very high.)
9. Miami will have a worse hurricane season than in 2007. (Cheap prediction as we didn’t even have a real scare this year.) (Confidence: very high.)
10. There will be at least one coordinated botnet operation (fed by a worm or a widely distributed trojan) that will dwarf anything we've seen so far either in its size, or in the precision of its targets (e.g. banks).
Surely that major columnist gig is just around the corner?
(Additional predictions welcomed in comments.)
Bonus prediction: BK will be so bad, he'll make Brooks look … no, never mind. Can't be done. (Confidence: total.)
Whatssamatter? Those were too tame? OK I gave myself five extra minutes to come up with ten more in which I have moderate to low confidence — but I think they're all possible:
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