I wrote about a study last year that suggested corporate earnings in the US could not grow by more than the growth of GDP.

"Our median estimate of the growth rate of operating performance corresponds closely to the growth rate of gross domestic product over the sample period ....the growth in real income before extraordinary items is roughly 3.5% per year" (after inflation and dividends. Before them it is about 10%.) "This is consistent with the historical growth rate in real gross domestic product, which has averaged about 3.4 percent per year over 1950-98. It is difficult to see how over the long term profitability of the business sector can grow much faster than overall gross domestic product. " (From a National Bureau of Economic Research Report by three economics professors: Chan, Karceski and Lakonishok).

The past two weeks I have had so many people email me an article by one Geoffrey Heard of Melbourne, Australia that I am going to comment on his nonsense. Because it is so wrong and yet his arguments seem so seductive, it offers an excellent opportunity for us to learn how world currency transactions really affect the price of gold and oil and other commodities. Warning: I am taking off my gloves in this letter. This is one of the more boneheaded pieces of conspiratorial economic garbage that I have read in quite some time. I normally don't respond to such ranting, but because it is seemingly being read and repeated in a lot of places, it deserves some attention.

Each week, I typically sit down at noon on Friday to write this letter. Quite often I stare at a blank screen pondering what to write about. Last week, and this week, my task has been to decide what NOT to write about. There is just so much that is worthy of our attention: pensions, indexing, Iraq, the drop in gold and the rise in stocks, international turmoil, the misleading headlines in the investment media and more. I have to leave the office without fail at 5:30 (kids come first), so let's see how much we get covered.

Sometimes it is the small things that lead to big changes. Today we briefly look at one paragraph in Greenspan's latest speech, then move on to Europe and Iraq. I want to suggest some small things that could lead to changes in global politics and the world economy just as significant as the fall of the Berlin Wall. My theme for 2003 was Surprise and Transition." I think we are getting ready for our first true surprise. Again, there is a lot to go over, so let's get started.

How, more than a few readers ask, can the economy continue to Muddle Through if I am right about the market eventually dropping another 40% before we get to the end of the secular bear market cycle? Won't such a massive destruction of wealth mean a depression? We look at that question, some thoughts on earnings, the world and a whole lot more this week.

No sooner is my Muddle Through 2003 forecast out, than we get a barrage of data which gives cause for concern. Can we still Muddle Through with an increase in taxes (you read that right!), higher oil prices, more medical costs, and a slowing world economy? Is the Fed actually winning the War Against Deflation? We look at all that today, plus I answer a few critics of my forecast.