"The inevitable may be certain, but it is not always punctual."

 

"The inevitable may be certain, but it is not always punctual." 

- Jim Grant.

I just heard this quote on a podcast with Jim Grant, one of the best financial commentators/journalists we have on markets. Old school can always be fresh. 

The biggest problem with forecasting is not getting the idea or concept right. It is getting the timing right. Whether it is inflation, a banking crisis, a recession or a market reversal, the signs are often early. The signs may be right in front of us, yet the time frame can be maddening slow. 

The variation on this theme is from Ruddy Dornbusch:

“In economics, things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then they happen faster than you thought they could.”