WHAT'S THE BIGGEST ECONOMIC THREAT?

The choices in last week's Quick Poll actually came from aTop 10 list of economic trends provided by Global Insight. So whobetter to comment on the poll than GI US economist Nigel Gault? Forthe record, Housing Woes topped our readers' list, at 37% of thevote, while a Weak Dollar took second place at 27%. It was followedclosely by Oil's Stranglehold, the major woe for 25%. SputteringFiscal Growth was checked off by 12% of our readers. Here's whatthe Lexington, MA-based Gault has to say about the nation's--andthe world's--fiscal steadiness:

"The number-one question mark on people's minds is how severethe slowdown is going to be on the US economy. It's very clear thatUS growth is going to be the weakest at least since 1992 when itwas 1.6%. We're looking for just under 2% growth now, but thatdoesn't quiet tell the story. The next two to three quarters arelooking extremely weak, with growth close to zero--and in somequarters less than zero--and an economy that will technically avoida recession but will feel like a recession.