Gazing Into the Crystal Ball
In the face of economic chaos and financial free fall, we found some brave prognosticators willing to predict where we'll go from here.—by Megan Angelo, Sophia Banay, Mary Bridges, Matthew Cooper, Julia Dennis, Willow Duttge, and Jessica Liebman.
Madeleine Albright
Former secretary of state and U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
By January 2010, Iraqis will still be divided by internal issues but will agree that Americans should leave. Iran, sobered by lower oil prices, will be less belligerent. Middle East peace? Not yet.
Eric Maskin
Co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Prize in economic sciences.
By January 2010, the economy will be on the road to recovery. If all goes wrong, I’ll escape to Italy and become an itinerant musician.
Andy Grove
Co-founder of Intel.
The most dangerous thing that may happen in 2009 is that we’ll continue our consumer-focused economic activities. We will sink into an infrastructure swamp and minimize our chances of remaining a leading light of the world economy.
Ben Silverman
Co-chairman of NBC Entertainment.
In 2009, I’d like to see Al Qaeda surrender and Venezuela, Iran, and North Korea elect new presidents.
Jimmy Wales
Founder of Wikipedia.
I believe the internet will do very well. I think people are going to participate more online simply because if you can’t afford to go out and do something expensive, you may just stay home and work on the internet. It’s entertainment.
Arianna Huffington
Co-founder of the Huffington Post.
We’ll see laid-off hedge fund managers standing outside Cipriani holding signs that say WILL GIVE INVESTMENT ADVICE FOR FOOD.
Bill Marriott
Chairman and C.E.O. of Marriott International.
Tight credit markets will continue to affect hotel deals. Developers will seek out management and franchise agreements with stronger global chains.
Robert Johnson
Chairman of RLJ Companies and founder of BET.
Savings will make a comeback in 2009. Once you get frightened by an economic downturn, you realize, “I’ve been spending like there’s always going to be a goose to lay the golden egg.”
George Lois
Legendary adman.
My hope for 2009 is that Osama bin Laden will be captured or killed or George W. Bush will be tried for war crimes. Either one would calm me down.
Ralph Nader
Political activist.
I’d like to see the enactment of single-payer health insurance, in which the government or a subcontractor pays for every citizen’s coverage. Also, a $10 minimum wage: Adjusted for inflation, that would equal the 1968 minimum wage.
Ian Schrager
Hotelier and founder of Morgans Hotel Group.
I’ll know the market is turning around when bars and restaurants begin to pick up—when people start to order a second martini.
Jimmy Breslin
Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and author.
If we have a real depression, you’ll see the streets filled with people and crime going through the roof. People took it like dogs in the Great Depression, but they’re not gonna take it this time.
Kathy Griffin
Comedian.
We’ll be stuck in this economic downturn for 10 years. That’s what Suze Orman tells me, and I believe everything she says.
Pete Peterson
Senior chairman of the Blackstone Group and former U.S. secretary of commerce.
I predict that this recession will last one to two years. I expect tax rates on the well-off to go up, as well as the pressure to increase private-equity and capital-gains taxes.
Mort Zuckerman
Chairman of Boston Properties.
I’d like to see the federal government create an infrastructure program—improving bridges, roads, mass transit—that will employ a lot of people and reduce our energy consumption. Oh, and I think it should support print advertising.
Andrew Ross Sorkin
Chief mergers-and-acquisitions reporter at the New York Times.
Citigroup will need to be bailed out—again.
Ivanka Trump
Vice president of real estate development and acquisitions for the Trump Organization.
We’ll know all hope is lost if my mortgage is foreclosed and I move back in with my parents.
