And like any equation, output is a function of input.

FORBES: Don't Shoot The Messenger: Pensions Will Sink Munis

On the growth side of the equation, the IMF predicts U.S. output will pick up in 2008 and import levels will remain healthy.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Ray Fair, an economist at Yale, famously devised an equation linking the outcome of presidential elections to inflation and output growth, but mid-terms are murkier.

ECONOMIST: The mid-term elections