If Obama or Romney can increase the USA's GDP over the next four years it will be an economic Houdini.
From CNBC:
"Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of earth-moving equipment, has cut its 2015 earnings forecast, citing weak global economic conditions that are hampering its expansion into mining and China."
"We've seen a slowing in economic growth more than we expected," Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman told analysts and reporters on Monday. "We expect fairly anemic and modest growth through 2015."
The forecast cut is "a realistic reflection of the slowdown in the global economy," said Oliver Pursche of the GMG Defensive Beta Fund, which owns Caterpillar shares. "We're not overly surprised by the announcement."
Caterpillar's warning about its profits three years from now sends an ominous message about the global economy — that the current slowdown is likely to be long-term regardless of what policy makers do now.
As the world's premier manufacturer of construction equipment, Caterpillar [CAT 87.01 -3.86 (-4.25%) ] serves as a bellwether for growth.
So when the company Monday cut its guidance not for the coming quarter or coming year but rather all the way into 2015 based on weak global growth, it implied that even if the U.S. solves its fiscal issues, the euro zone escapes its debt crisis and China avoids a hard landing, business conditions likely will be tepid for some time ahead.