"Who knows what is going to happen tomorrow, let alone next month?"
So said Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King earlier this month when giving his latest predictions for how the economy will fare next year.
The Bank cut its growth forecasts for both this year and next year.
We're busy preparing behind the scenes here at Sky News centre and at our political offices in Westminster for the Autumn Statement next Tuesday.
On that day, we will hear from Chancellor George Osborne on the latest independent forecasts for the economy plus what financial measures he plans to take.
The background isn't looking good - inflation remains high, unemployment is rising, there is low or weak growth, the Government may have to borrow more money than it originally thought. Expect to hear a lot from the Government about "Plan A", from Labour about "Plan B" and from others various variations of "Plan A-minus" or "Plan B-plus".
The Budget back in March seems like a long time ago. At that time, the Government's independent economic forecasters, the Office for Budget Responsibility, suggested the UK economy would grow by 1.7% this year and 2.5% next year.
Since then, every major financial and economic body - from the Bank of England and the Confederation of British Industry through to the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - has downgraded their forecasts for how well the British economy will do.
So one thing's certain - the OBR will tell us next week that it too doesn't think we are such rude health.
Although the OBR forecasts are supported by expert financial data and produced by economic experts, they can't be anything more than a "best guess".
Forecasting is an art, not a science. And some of the OBR's forecasts made eight months ago now seem so out of date that they could probably qualify as antiques. It's enough to make shadow chancellor Ed Balls weep.
:: Full coverage of the Autumn Statement on Sky News HD, online, red button and iPad from 12 noon on Tuesday 29th November.
Viewpoint is on Twitter at Skypaulbromley
Source: http://blogs.news.sky.com/viewpoint/Post:c170e707-8e8a-42c4-a317-d15114af15e1
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