The tactical and strategic plans of most business organizations have been dealt severe setbacks by the recent recession. Many forecasters did not anticipate that the Administration's fiscal program would create a crisis of near‐term economic difficulties. Only a few predicted the persistence...

Economic forecasts play indispensable roles in organizational decision making. The revenue and expenditure figures contained in annual budgets and long‐range plans are based either explicitly or implicitly on a variety of assumptions about future economic and industry conditions. Tactical...

The financial decisions of American consumers are swayed by a multitude of forces. Business cycle fluctuations and vagaries in fashion are short‐term influences. Long‐term determinants include changing demographics and structural economic shifts, such as double‐digit inflation, abnormally...