survey respondents aren’t shy about placing blame.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
if you’re getting a little nervous about the general business environment, you’re not alone.
the 2025 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer has picked up a serious swing toward pessimism among the professionals who know the numbers.
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before the inauguration, the outlook for the nation’s economy was moderately hunky-dory. almost 60 percent of respondents predicted the economy would get better over the next 12-18 months. only 26 percent figured it would get worse.
pessimism doubles
that was then. this is now. by the ides of march, 68 percent saw an economic downturn, and only 21 percent were optimistic. now, by the second week of april, 74 percent are hunkering in the pessimist camp. in fact, the share of those who fear things will get “much worse” has doubled from 14.5 to 29 percent.
shift toward gloom
when asked how their own firms will do in this unstable economy, accountants give similar numbers that show a similar shift toward gloom.
in january, barely 7 percent of respondents thought their firms would be worse off over the next year and a half. a third saw no change coming, and 60 percent were confident things would improve.
two months later, that 7 percent swelled to 30 percent, though by early april, the percentage of doomsters drops to 23 percent. at this point, only 42 percent see their firms doing better over the next year and a half.
the survey—which is still ongoing—asks which issues will be the most important for business and why. the answers are all over the place, but as of mid-april, inflation and trade/tariffs are by far the most common. the word “tariffs” comes up 15 times out of 48 responses, and “uncertainty” appears seven times.
one respondent says, “tariffs. this is uncharted territory, and most forget that it is the consumer who ultimately pays the tariffs at the end of the day.”
another says, “i worry that the tariffs and crackdown on undocumented workers are going to cause a deep recession.”
unminced words
allen norvell says, “certain trade agreements need to be revisited, but the approach needs to be strategic, with more priority given to balancing between the level of harmful disruption and the benefit gained.”
eric stephen grant agrees with the tariff problem, and he minces no words in explaining why: “we have arguably the most ignorant, moronic president in our country’s history creating and implementing policy supported by a congress with no sense of shame.”
nina tross is worried about something else. “tax legislation hits everyone at different levels,” she says, “(as do) shrinking support from the irs and fewer professionals going into this industry.”
and larry kropp says the biggest problem is something else. “the ridiculous increase in minimum wage makes it very hard for small businesses… anyone getting minimum wage isn’t worth even that, obviously, so they are all overpaid. this contributes to inflation, hurts businesses, and forces many owners to cut staff. so the workers are cutting their own throats.”
one thing every cpa in the country can agree on is that the times are interesting.