by Dr. Mike Walden, NCSU Econonomist — December 18, 2020 . It’s that time of year again for predictions about the upcoming year. In my case, of course, these will be forecasts for the economy. Here are seven predictions I think have a reasonably good chance of happening in 2021. The aggregate economy will be better in 2021 than in 2020. This is a fairly easy call. It looks like total production of products and services will drop 4% or 5% in 2020. Dr. Mike Walden Most of the damage was done in the spring, and the economy has rebounded nicely in the second half of the year. However, the resurgence of the virus at the end of 2020 and the re-emergence of some economic restrictions in the country will cause growth to be slow, or slightly negative, at the end of 2020.