CW: 2011 Predictions

I did not do very well with my 2010 predictions, only one of which came to pass:

7. Tiger Woods will play in at least one major championship this year.

For this year, I offer the following mixed bag.  GG has of course, set the gold standard of prediction.

1.  Tiger Woods will win a major championship this year.
2.  The Dow will be above 12,500 at year's end.
3.  Unemployment WILL be under 9%
4.  The Patriots will win the Super Bowl
5.  The Phillies will win the World Series
6.  China and Japan will experience a flashpoint over the disputed Senkaku Islands in which shots will be fired.
7.  My renovation will come in on budget, but six weeks late.
8.  The US and Venezuela will be brought to the brink of war over Venezuelan plans to station ballistic missiles capable of ranging the Southern US.  There will be no war, and no missiles.
9.  I will be less than 180 lbs on New Year's Eve 2011.
10.  President Obama will have a good year--the economy will be in full recovery, cooperation with Republicans in Congress will redound to his benefit, he will be in a commanding position for the 2012 election at year's end.

Happy New Year, all!

Goldwater's Ghost: 2011 Predictions

My 2010 predictions were a mixed bag (I definitely nailed two of the ten if you count Ricky Martin as a major celebrity). My outlook for 2011 isn't as hazy:



- While private job creation will rebound and pick up in the US, the overall unemployment rate will not alter significantly and will not fall below 9%.

- Commodity prices will rise dramatically in the first half of 2011, but plummet as China's economy staggers and demand weakens.

- The price of oil will be above $120 a barrel on July 1st.

- Volatile weather will become a significant issue, especially in the Northeast, as several winter storms will batter the Atlantic coast and push municipal snow removal budgets to the brink. The Obama Administration will use this as the catalyst to push "Climate Change" legislation, seeking to recast the debate away from global warming and more toward the catastrophic effects of climate change on weather patterns; and, consequently, on the ecology and economy. Someone in Congress will call climate change the Number One threat to national security.

- An unexpected vacancy will open up on the Supreme Court sometime in the 3rd Quarter of the year.

- India will send troops into Pakistan.

- Hilary Clinton will resign as Secretary of State as part of a calculated move to position herself as a candidate in 2012.

- A team from the NFC will win the Super Bowl.

- The Philadelphia Phillies, who re-acquired pitcher Cliff Lee during the off-season, will finish 3rd in the National League East.

- Aliens who visited Earth in ancient times will return on Christmas Eve, as first speculated in the 1975 documentary The Outer Space Connection.