Outside the small group of professional Y2K doomsayers , few believe that New Year's Eve will bring disaster. But it is true that the White House has been deliberately downplaying Y2K threats for fear of negative social problems, such as bank runs and stock market troubles. White House spin campaigns are hardly reassuring. The latest report did include welcome details from industry trade associations. Electricity providers and distribution companies, while not yet done with fixes, uniformly said that they'll be ready by this summer.
Telephone companies say that they'll be OK, but wireless is a different story.
Should there be a disruption of imports, domestically grown fruits and vegetables will continue to be available, although with less variety and possibly somewhat higher prices. John Koskinen, chairman of the White House Y2K council, said that he had hoped to bend the ears of some world leaders at the NATO summit about to begin in Washington. Instead, the war in Kosovo has captured their attention. The Y2K Report Card 22.Feb.99 The District of Calamity 20.Feb.99 White House Fears Y2K Panic 18.Feb.99. Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved.