As is our tradition for the last few years, we will make some predictions about the coming year, but with a slight departure -- all the predictions this year are about the same theme, the economy.

The first edition of Terrie's Take for 2014. We take a peek into the future and ask ourselves what trends or macro developments might happen and what impact they will have on doing business in Japan.

This year's summary of key events revolves in around the role of government intervention and the trends that such politically-driven activity will have on our businesses in 2014.

As is our custom, we are going to kick off the year by making some predictions about where we think Japan, her people, and companies are headed this year.

Predictions about what we think will happen on a macro level here in Japan or globally that will affect Japan.

A much extended recession, a collapse of the US dollar, and The Big One finally hitting Tokyo? What will 2009 have in store for us? Check out our predictions.

NostradamusBy Greg Lane -- Predicting the future is not really about looking forward. Without a crystal ball, the best we can do is study what has passed and use that knowledge and experience to anticipate what might happen in the future. While a neatly linear chart of sales can be estimated with the use of a ruler and a dotted line, predicting future events and trends is akin to attempting to predict the final destination of a speeding car by staring intently out the rear window. Adding to the difficulty of making any predictions about the year ahead is the truly unpredictable—the threat of earthquake, tsunami, volcanic eruption and typhoons to which Japan is eternally prone.

Terrie starts the year by making ten predictions for 2008. From the credit crunch to politics and from demography to biotechnology, find out what Japan can expect this year. Read Terrie's Take Now