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There is a 70% chance of worldwide recession in 1999 because of the year 2000 computing problem, says Deutsche Bank Securities chief economist Edward Yardeni. Yardeni bases his forecast on the progress (or, more accurately, the lack thereof) of the U.S. federal government in fixing its own systems. He believes a number of essential systems (e.g., utilities, government, telecommunications, banking, transportation, and military systems) won't be completely fixed and tested before January 1, 2000. And he warns that the problem will be especially severe because, if systems do fail, they all will fail at the same time.