It's a time for predictions, and economists are optimistic about the economic outlook for the U.S. economy in 2000, with annual growth predicted to range from 3.1 to 3.8 percent.

At the beginning of 1999, the same economists who review annual growth, as well as the outlook for stocks, bond and other funds, predicted the economy would grow to a little more than two percent. Year-end estimates actually were twice as high with growth of four percent.

Experts say we should not be concerned about the missed spread for 1999 because this year's figures were heavily tainted by Y2K bug concerns. For 2000, the attention turns back to the consumer rather than other concerns like technology.