Economists See the Coming Double-Dip

Vincent Reinhart, a former director at the Federal Reserve, has written an economic outlook paper for the American Enterprise Institute. He argues there is a 40% chance of a double dip recession and that the Fed needs to respond with accommodating monetary policy.

Reinhart's gloomy picture is unfortunately not new. In fact, his 40% figure is just the latest in several predictions made by other economists about the high chance of a double dip.

Economist Nouriel Roubini puts the odds of a double dip at 50%, so does former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. Larry Summers puts its at 30% and so does Mark Zandi of Moody's Analytics.

Ethan Harries, an economist for Bank of America puts the odds at between 20% to 30%. A survey by the blog Verum Serum found that many economists at some of the major investment and strategy firms put the odds at between 40% to 50%.

Bill Gross, the founder and managing director of Pimco, won't give a percentage figure but says there is a "high probability" of a double dip.

If a double dip does come, it will be the inaction in the face of warnings that it was on the way which future generations will be most baffled by.