A Reuters report today, sums up the latest Blue Chip economic forecasts,
Top U.S. economic forecasters are growing increasingly worried about the impact of surging oil prices on consumer and business spending in 2005, a survey released on Sunday showed.
and notes an interesting paradox.
However, most of the 51 economists polled by the Blue Chip Economic Indicators survey raised their estimates for 2004 growth...
Actually, it's not so paradoxical after all, as the article explains that the higher estimates come
... after the Commerce Department revised up second-quarter gross domestic product growth to a 3.3 percent annual pace from a previously reported 2.8 percent.
However, the faster-than-expected pace this year has apparently not dissuaded the experts from shifting their pessimism to 2005.
For next year, the consensus growth estimate slipped to 3.5 percent in the October survey from 3.6 percent in September.
So, I guess they did lower their forecasts, but only after they raised them first.
And, in case you were wondering whether our allies are with us on this one, here's some related news from Bloomberg:
German investor confidence probably fell this month and French industrial production may have slowed in August, suggesting record oil prices are crimping growth in the 12 nations sharing the euro, surveys of economists showed.
Who says we're going it alone?