Tough Times

Although 2009 is shaping up to be a very difficult year, there is hope that it will at least see the bottoming out of the severe economic downturn. "I think the economy will stabilize in the fourth quarter of this year and we will experience very low growth levels for the following two years," says Gerace. "The Economic Stimulus package will help to improve the economy in the short term; however, I fear we will enter a period of 'stagflation' as a result of the inflationary impact of pumping trillions of dollars into the economy and the measures that will then have to be put in place to counter it."