It’s that time of year to predict what will happen in the coming year so I’ll just get right to the chase:

Political

  • Mitt Romney will have the GOP nomination all but locked up by Valentine’s Day.
  • In order to keep Ron Paul from running as a 3rd party candidate, Rand Paul will be a primetime GOP convention speaker, possibly the keynote speaker.
  • Romney will pick a Southern governor or Congressman as his running mate.
  • Barack Obama will be reelected easily, Dems take the House, GOP takes the Senate. The American people just don’t like Mitt Romney.
  • Obamacare’s individual mandate will be struck down by the Supreme Court, but the rest of the law is upheld.
  • Taxes return to Clinton era levels at the end of the year.
  • Both Occupy and the Tea Party will be all but finished.
  • SOPA passes Congress and more bipartisan, draconian “security” legislation is debated and passed as well.
  • Americans Elect will fail to attract a big name candidate and Donald Trump will not run for president. Gary Johnson will not win more than 1% of the vote, if that.
  • 2012 Presidential Election will have the lowest turnout in recent history

International

  • Israel or US will strike Iran by spring.
  • Bashir Assad is ousted in Syria.
  • Netanyahu government falls in Israel
  • The Eurozone continues its transformation into a Franco-German dominated superstate, while outsiders like the UK, the Czech Republic, and Sweden begin their exit from the European Union
  • Hugo Chavez joins Kim Jung Il and Gaddafi in hell.
  • Argentina invades the Falkland Islands but UK retakes them with US help
  • North Korea provokes an incident with South Korea, but tensions die down after a month or so.
  • Mexico’s violence finally deteriorates into full blown civil war
  • UK’s coalition government falls and Conservatives hold power in a minority government in the resulting general election

Economic

  • Oil reaches nearly $200 a barrel pushing the world back into economic recession
  • US unemployment hovers around 8-9%
  • Gold bubble continues to deflate
  • Housing prices continue to stagnate or fall in most markets
  • Food prices climb by at least 10% on average

Sports

  • New England Patriots defeat New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl
  • Drew Brees becomes highest paid quarterback in NFL history and stays in New Orleans
  • Manchester City wins English Premier League
  • New York Yankees win World Series
  • United States wins both most medals and most gold medals in the London Olympic games

Other

  • Nothing happens on December 21, 2012; except many mass suicides.