The good news is that U.S. consumers are motivated to accelerate their spending behavior substantially. And due to aggressive fiscal stimulus from Congress, they are in a strong position to do so.

Bill Wood: The only consolation I can offer is I think it is likely that the pace of the expected increase will moderate as the year progresses.

I have performed this annual ritual for more than three decades, and I have great confidence that my powers of perception and my analytical skills are as good or better than they have ever been. Over the years, I have been surprised, stumped, amazed and outright wrong. But the events of the past few months have completely eliminated the need for decimal points in my outlook for the coming year.

Bill Wood: "My baseline forecast assumes that Congress will pass another relief package soon, and this will generate a growth rate for the manufacturing sector in 2021 that is stronger than its long-term average rate of growth. But for most segments, the growth I am forecasting for next year will not quite make up for the volume that was lost this year."

There is a huge amount of pent-up demand in this country for many types of services, and this will be unleashed as soon as the supply chain for the distribution of vaccines and therapeutics for COVID-19 is ramped up. But this will not happen overnight.

"Small-business owners are more optimistic now than they were a year ago. I am inspired by this," economist Bill Wood writes.

Wood remains optimistic that the U.S. economy will return to a phase of solid growth in 2021. Nevertheless, there are three risks to this forecast that he cannot ignore.

It will come as no surprise that online retailers are reaping the largest benefit from the pandemic. This segment has shot up at an annual growth rate of 20 percent this year.

"Interest rates this low are indicative of an economy that is not vibrant and robust. OK, that is not a surprise given the fact we are trying to recover from the damage inflicted by the pandemic. Maybe this is what we need," writes Plastics News Economics Editor Bill Wood.

Rising auto sales in the second half of this year will not be enough to offset completely all of the damage sustained during the first half. However, the trend sets us up for strong percentage growth in 2021.

We are all eagerly anticipating the restart of U.S. economy, yet I suspect it is going to be much more complicated and will require much more collective expertise than getting a blown film line installed and running, Economics Editor Bill Wood says.

“We are not quite past the threat of further disruption from the coronavirus, and it will be a large task to rebuild our economy. But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel," according to Economics Editor Bill Wood. 

The urgent question on everyone's mind right now is, "Is it working?" As of this moment, I believe the answer is a qualified, "Yes."

As we all know by now, statistics from the first two months of 2020 reflect life before the new coronavirus, COVID-19.

For the short-term outlook for business spending, the things that cause concern are the recent downward trends in the investment levels for both equipment and structures.