Economy

Property and casualty insurers are very likely to earn record levels of underwriting profits on personal lines in 2014 – barring catastrophic events.

This year Georgia will be the nation’s fourth largest state-level black consumer market. State totals will reach $66 billion.

Businesses need to spend more to improve productivity. As confidence in the economic situation slowly improves, the demand for loans should rise.

Large retailers will gain at the expense of smaller ones, and discount retailers will gain at the expense of mid-price and luxury retailers.

The massive restructuring of Georgia’s private sector is now complete, and the state has landed some large relocation and expansion projects.

Spending on information services will grow much faster than state GDP in 2013.

The private sector has done most of the restructuring that was needed, so the economy is broadening.

There’s lots of uncertainty in many critical federal government policy areas, including the budget, the tax code and regulation.

Government spending and employment will decline sharply. The nastiest declines at the federal level have yet to occur.

Checking in with Atlanta, Albany, Athens and Augusta for an update on their economic prospects.