Nostradamus Predictions 2021
Do you believe Nostradamus' predictions come true?
I dusted off my rusty cast-iron crystal ball to make my guaranteed predictions for 2016. Every prediction I made last year came true with better accuracy than Nostradamus. It is beyond me why I’m not rich, better looking, have more hair, or running the United Nations. Take notes; I’m only going to say this once.
The stock market will pull back 20% during tax season and then grind higher the remainder of the year to close above 22,000 on the Dow.
Unemployment will decline the entire year, ending 2016 at 4.1% nationally; 5.9% by the end of 2017.
Commodity prices will decline the later part of 2016, including energy prices.
Inflation will remain tame; the CPI for 2016 will climb only 2.4%. As a result, interest rates will remain low, climbing at the very end of 2016. The Federal Reserve will sell assets off their balance sheet to moderate the economy.
The GDP will expand 5.1%.
Nationalized health care will be a reality. Taxes will go up now to pay for a program starting several years down the road.
The Democrats will continue to attract lightening from the right and will lose ground in Congress and the Senate. However, the Democrats will gain favor again as the economy accelerates and will regain some, but not all, ground in 2016. A woman will be elected in 2016. (Note: Don’t take this as an endorsement of Hilary Clinton. This is my prediction, not my personal political beliefs.)
Nostradamus
The world will not end in 2016 or 2017. Israel will strike against Iran with U.S. support in an attempt to destroy Iran’s nuclear efforts. Iran will have The Bomb by 2017 and will wave it around in wild threats. Russia will step in and bring Iran into line. Russia doesn’t want fallout floating over their southern border. North Korea will use a nuclear weapon in war by the end of 2017.
The winter of 2016-17 will bring another year of record snow for many areas and will be colder than normal. The winter of 2016-17 will be even worse, but the winter of 2017-18 will be the warmest on record. It will rain more than snow in places like Green Bay and Minneapolis. The summer of 2016 will be hot. Minneapolis and Green Bay will have temperatures over 105 F, breaking old all-time high records by several degrees.
Wind will provide 60% of new electricity production in 2016 in the U.S. Solar will grow slower, but will become meaningful by 2017. Natural gas use will expand and electric cars will begin selling in the U.S. Electric car sales will expand rapidly into 2016 and after on the back of advanced battery technologies coming online. Gasoline sales will decline each year for several years. The ethanol industry will suffer and fail by 2017. Natural gas cars will not gain favor. Natural gas will play best as a replacement for coal.
Disaster will strike the U.S. in October 2016. The American people will be drawn closer together. Crime rates will fall again.
The trade deficit will decline to levels not seen in over thirty years and will turn to a surplus in at least one month in 2016 and for all of 2017. The dollar will remain low with an uptick early in the year, falling into 2017.
The federal budget deficit will decline more than expected to well below $1 trillion, to $100 billion in 2016, to a surplus in 2017. Social Security will not go bust, neither will Medicare.
Carbon emissions will decline in the U.S. by the end of 2016. Alternative energy and increased natural gas usage will be the reason why.
Factory farms in the U.S. and Europe will suffer a bio-terror scare. Legislation to limit farm size will begin to form on both continents. Smaller, decentralized farms will be granted major tax credits.
Sarah Palin will make news; George W. Bush will, too. News networks will continue to be commentaries rather than newscasts, with personal attacks on the political party they don’t belong to. Palin will announce her candidacy and chose W as her VP.
SETI will make contact. The government will cover it up, so you will never know, except that I told you here.
The sun will rise in the east, set in the west. This will hold true for much of the year.
Babies will be born; people will marry; die. Children will smile and enjoy ice cream; adults will whine about the weather and politics. Some people will predict gloom and doom, others, hope.
You know, the more I stare at the rusty cast-iron ball, the more I realize things will be pretty much the same. Especially for the good stuff.
Note: Please do not send nasty emails. I am writing this with a wry (or is that rye) smile. I think the economic predictions have a chance, the rest are pure folly.