NAFC Hears Rosy Economic Forecast

CHICAGO — Trucking’s top financial executives heard some encouraging words about the economy and a mix of good and bad news about the state of truck manufacturing at the National Accounting & Finance Council’s Management Conference and Exhibit Forum June 27 to 29.

Economist Barry Asmus of the National Center for Policy Analysis in Phoenix issued a rousing call for privatization and a prediction that the best is yet to come for the U.S. economy.

“The economy is being demographically driven,” Asmus told trucking finance officers. Seventy-five million people are between the age of 35 and 50, the prime age for consumption and investment. That alone should keep things perking for the next 10 to 15 years.

After that, he said, the United States can expect to benefit from the recovery of major Asian and Latin American nations and a shift worldwide toward private enterprise and personal freedom.

“The seminal event of the 20th century was the recognition that freedom is the mainspring of economic prosperity,” Asmus said. “In the 21st century, the seminal event will be the rule of law. It’s the underlying glue that makes freedom work.”

Along with laws protecting property rights, privatization will be a major force in the economy around the world, Asmus said.

“Every function of government is a candidate for privatization,” he said.

For the full story, see the July 5 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.