Looking back on 2008, it is more than understatement to say that there were some surprises. The Presidential election, the financial turmoil and the triumphant rise of the Gators have been fascinating. Looking ahead and making predictions seems difficult when one considers the volatility of the past twelve months. Cedar Key News accepts the challenge to predict what 2009 will bring. The Obama phenomenon went in ten months from improbable to a resounding electoral success. By comparison with past Presidents, President-elect Obama must be a success as President. In absolute terms, we predict Obama will have great, if not complete success. FDR's memory is often invoked because Roosevelt faced the Great Depression and World War II. If Obama is successful he will rank with Lincoln. Obama faces economic problems on a global scale and overseas wars in increasingly hostile places. The wide-spread recognition of names like Lehman Brothers, AIG and Fannie Mae speak of the recent interest of many people in the financial world and how it affects everyone. The bail-out of Chrysler in the '70s was peanuts and almost forgotten. Suddenly the importance of the automobile industry in our economy has been recognized. We make no predictions on how the bailouts will work. Automobiles are emblematic of the U.S. Every teenager in Asia must dream of having a car. Whatever the terms of the current bail-out, electric cars are in our future. A safe prediction is that BMW will market a 250 Watt Mini that goes like stink in ten months while we wait until 2010 for the Big Three to deliver something less that a Mustang. No review of the Gator's rise to greatness in needed. Prediction: Gators by 10 over Oklahoma. On the international scene, the financial upheaval is indeed international. We have been in a global economy for a long time. The Marshal Plan and the resurrection of Japan's industrial might showed that. China's economy in 2008 is now in the mix. The following prediction, as the twentieth anniversary of Tiananmen Square approaches, is that the economy, the internet and millions of young Chinese will bring about a new revolution in China in 2009. | 