It now appears that their expectations were wrong and the prosperity will keep on rolling through 2001, marking a decade of economic expansion. This week, enr presents the annual forecasts of a number of construction organizations, including the F.W. Dodge Division of the McGraw-Hill Cos., the parent company of enr. After 126 years of publishing, enr has seen a lot of construction cycles. The downturns are generally painful, but serve a worthwhile cleansing action that establishes a new base for renewal.
Many bad practices tend to come to the surface after years of plenty.
Greed has not gone out of fashion. We think the laws of averages hold that we are closer to the end of the boom rather than the beginning, but we are also careful about what we wish for. Anything is really possible in today's world. Many of the economists also tend to huddle together for protection, never wanting to be too far out from the pack in their predictions. Some economists believe, and they are probably right, that if the boom ends in 2001, it will be more like a homicide than a suicide.