Brian Wesbury wrote an especially amusing op-ed in yesterday's Wall Street Journal. He argued that the business media are giving too much time to those who are bearish. Citing numerous surveys, he claimed that the vast majority of economists are bullish. Therefore, according to Wesbury, by giving bears and bulls an equal amount of time, viewers are getting the incorrect impression that economists are torn about economic growth.
I found this amusing for a couple of reasons. First, his definition of a bull is one who is forecasting at least 2% GDP growth. Not too long ago, 2% would have been considered bearish. In fact, I've been portrayed as the bear on a number of television debates because I was forecasting less than 3% growth.
Furthermore, he ignores the fact that almost all economists have been ratcheting down their forecasts. They may still be predicting growth, but they are getting less and less optimistic.
He also ignores the fact that it rarely pays for forecasters to disagree with the masses. They want to make sure their forecast is not too far off from the average forecast. This way, if they are wrong, they can simply shrug their shoulders and say, "Hey, that's what everybody was expecting."
As for me, I still think the probability of recession is rather low. I think 2% GDP growth is still a reasonable estimate. So why am I a bear? It is not because I expect a recession. It is because I expect stocks to go lower. Despite the recent sell-offs we've been seeing in the markets, I think there is still a ways to go before we hit bottom.
