The Boston Herald is running a story about recent comments by the chief economist at Morgan Stanley indicating his expectation that we’re…ummm…hosed. As in 90% likely to be hosed, most likely in the short term. The basis of his beliefs are the same we’ve been hearing for years now – runaway deficits combined with huge personal debt loads combining to wreck the economy. While I’m glad to not be a numbers geek working the stock market, stuff like this really does make me wish I understood the dynamics of economic systems better such that I could draw conclusions I can trust. I have no idea if this guy is right or wrong. Should I hold off on buying a house? Should I buy a metric ton of processed cheese food, saltines, and a shotgun and prepare for the end of times? Or should I just assume we’ll muddle through this as we have for the past decade or more (I first became aware of these deficit-related predictions when I was in college). I have no idea. Anyone with any sage wisdom on the subject?