Hey Norm...you missed one:

Category: Too_Late

Date: 1999-04-02 19:31:16

Subject: Australia's Y2K Repair Cost Estimate Rises 60% in One Month

Link: http://www.afr.com.au/y2k/990329/bus/bus0.html

Comment: The realization is setting in: y2k is expensive to fix. The estimate keeps rising.

Most of the costs lie ahead of us, says Ed Yardeni.

This is from the AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (March 29-April 5).

* * * * * * * * * *

Australian business is now expected to spend $19 billion fixing the year 2000 computer problem, prompting an intense debate over the implications for economic growth.

The $19 billion estimate from the Australian Bureau of Statistics is 60 per cent higher than its estimate released just a month ago and almost double the most recent private-sector projections of $10 billion. . . .

Dr Ed Yardeni, chief economist and global investment strategist at Deutsche Bank, said most Y2K spending in the US was coming out of existing IT budgets and was not adding to new spending. Software and programming expenses were intermediate services not included in final GDP figures.

"In my opinion, the main costs of Y2K are probably ahead of us in the form of lost output caused by Y2K disruptions," he said.

Dr Yardeni said that just-in-case inventory building could boost real GDP later this year but that might be offset if consumers became more anxious about Y2K at the same time and reduced their spending on housing and durables.

The sudden change in the ABS estimates for Y2K expenditure, which followed a review of the assumptions used, has not been the subject of a public release, but the new information is available on request. . . .

-- a (a@a.a), April 02, 1999