But every competitive market economy, even one solidly based on a rule of law, is always in a state of flux, and its perceived productiveness is always subject to degrees of uncertainty that are inevitably associated with endeavors to anticipate future outcomes.
Thus, while the general state of confidence and consumers’ and investors’ willingness to commit to long-term investment is buttressed by the perceptions of the stability of the society and economy, history demonstrates that that degree of confidence is subject to wide variations. Most of those variations are the result of the sheer difficulty in making judgments and, therefore, commitments about, and to, the future.