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Here are five choice articles from the business press to start off your work week. I'm pointing you to articles that look back at 2009 and forward at 2010.

From Business Week: Sunny, with a Chance of Relapse
At the very least, 2009 created a rare sense of unanimity among economists. With the country in its worst recession since the 1930s, and unemployment at a 26-year high, economists of all stripes agreed: the economy was a disaster. Thankfully, 2010 should be a lot less historic. That also means the outlook for the new year is a lot less unanimous. On average, the 58 economists surveyed by Bloomberg in early December expect that the U.S. economy will muddle along at the 2.6% average annual growth rate of the past 20 years, that consumer prices will rise 2.1%, and that joblessness will remain at 10% for the year. But these are just averages, and they obscure two distinct—and extreme—views of where the U.S. economy is headed."

Wally's Comment: The great thing about economists is that you can always find one who agrees with any prediction you care to make. So it's no surprise that there are economists predicting all kinds of different scenarios for 2010. And you would think we would learn from the past, but hubris and greed inevitably overcome prudence and good sense.

From the NY Times: Back From the Brink (but Watch Your Step)
"UNLESS you’re Tiger Woods, 2009 has probably been a heck of a lot better than 2008."

Wally's Comment: Julie Creswell's article reviews still more economists and comes to roughly the same conclusion as Business Week. Both think things will be better, but wouldn't advise betting on it.

When you're done reading the Business Week and Times articles, click over to the online version of an exhibition at Harvard's Baker Library titled "Bubbles, Panics and Crashes." Then read on.

From Workforce Management: Good Riddance, 2009
"The best thing about this year is that it’s just about in our rearview mirror—and a good thing, too, because 2009 has been one of the single worst years of the past 70 for the American workforce."

Wally's Comment: For John Hollon, editor of Workforce Management, the only good thing about 2009 is that it's over.

From Industry Week: Cross Your Fingers: 2010 Will Be Better
"Having weathered the storm of 2009, our field check of manufacturers finds reason for optimism in 2010."

Wally's Comment: The Industry Week editors didn't talk to economists. They talked to CEOs of manufacturing companies. From there, the view is pretty good.

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: A rather dismal economic decade
"By a host of statistical measures, America has lost ground since the decade began. Home values, savings, portfolios and paychecks have taken a pounding to varying degrees — performances further discounted by more than 20 percent inflation since 1999. Average U.S. home prices are back to levels of five years ago. Industrial production has fallen to where it was nearly eight years ago. The S&P 500 stock index — despite its recent rally — is at a level reached in 1998. "

Wally's Comment: Michael E. Kanell and Tammy Joyner look back at the last decade to review what happened and what we may have learned. The best thing about this article, though, is that they put a human face on it all.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.