By Liz Farmer | Governing
When the Chinese stock market took a plunge in late August, it triggered a 1,000-point drop over just a few hours in the U.S. stock market. It also triggered worries about whether the sell-off was a sign of a slowing economy. The response from many economists was that the market was simply due for a “correction” and that the figures that really matter to the economy — job growth and unemployment — should remained unscathed.
So far, that’s held true. But the fact is, economic forecasting is an extremely inexact science. Most of the time, economists tend to predict fiscal growth well. But when it comes to crucial pivots in the economy — the major downturns and upswings — they’re dead wrong almost every time.
