2012: New Year, Similar 
Outlook

AS WE start into 2012, it seems as if the printing industry, the country as a whole and even the global economy have been cast in a sequel to the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day. The first draft of the script for the year ahead reads much like it did for the past two years:

• Ongoing high unemployment rate—check;
• Fallout from the banking crisis still causing high foreclosures rates and depressing the real estate market—check;
• Gridlock in our nation's capital as compromise is considered a dirty word by both parties—check; and
• Euro zone countries struggling with debt crises, keeping the global economy on edge—check.

If anything, the challenges that threaten printing industry growth, specifically, have intensified. The most notable is investment in tablets as a printing replacement by government agencies, schools at all grade levels and certain consumer sectors. The other is the attacks on printing, such as Do Not Mail efforts, in the misguided perception that printing is not sustainable, or at least less sustainable than digital alternatives.