Wouldn't business life be easier if we didn't have to worry about future calamities?  If we could just gather up the data on what's happened already and what's happening now, then create a perfect strategic plan for what we want to happen in the future...

In such an idyllic world, we'd need only to press the start button on our plan and let it run without a thought about the potential for a severe recession in the US, or a sudden tightening of credit in China, or yet another oil price shock...