Could 2013 Be A Good Economic Year?     Now despite these recent
market losses and the unresolved negotiations in Washington, at
least one prominent economist believes 2013 could be a year of
progress in the U.S. economic recovery.  Our colleague Steve
Inskeep spoke to Nariman Behravesh, chief economist of IHS
Global Insight, about his forecast.   Could 2013 be a good
economic year?  NARIMAN BEHRAVESH: Indeed, it could be a good
economic year in the sense that the U.S. economy, barring a
serious fiscal cliff scenario, the U.S. economy is likely to
pick up steam as the year progresses, consumer spending is
strong and is getting stronger, housing is finally recovering,
they together account for over 75 percent of the U.S. economy.
The other side of the world, China looks like it's bottomed out
in terms of its slowdown; it's picking up some steam. The rest
of Asia looks like it's strengthening and doing fairly well. So
between the U.S. and Asia, in particular China, I think we could
be looking at a decent 2013,