Sunday's New York Times had an article on the growing shortage of doctors because of Obamacare. We don't have enough physicians now, and when more people get health insurance, it will get worse. I count four physicans among my personal friends and three have, or plan to, retire early to avoid Obamacare hassles. The fourth is my son and he just became a physician last month.
I think we might see growing cost pressure that eventually redefines the activities of the various healthcare professionals. This means nurses will do more of what physicans do now. Clinical psychologists, nurses, or possibly social workers might be dispensing psychiatric meds. At least that would be consistent with current trends to redefine what each profession does. I'd hate to see clinical psychology go this route but it seems the way things are headed. Psychiatrists will supervise psychologists and nurses and rarely see patients.
Researchers may be in trouble, economically speaking. There may be fewer professorships if universities switch from 4 to 3 years; give online courses; states cut support for state universities; the feds cutback on behavioral research at federal grant agencies; and fewer students can afford to go college.
Universities have real problems right now. We saw that at Penn State. Remember Duke, when scholars formed a lynch mob to condemn innocent lacrosse players? Democratic politicans are now complaining about tuition costs and student debt. Social psychology already has conservative politicans after their taxpayer-funded research. They claim social psychology is infested with liberal politics and isn't science. Right now both Democrats and Republicans are criticizing universities.
The future may be brighter for psychologists working in business. Companies are quite healthy right now. Certain specialities may do better, like autism or intellectual disabilities. School funding is tight, but school psychologists will still be needed. Motivation psychology is doing very well right now. The Internet is a bonanza for test publishing but not book publishing. Private career counselors should be in demand.
Oh, well. If you don't like the outlook just keep in mind that nobody can predict the future. As James Napolitan, the commodities trader turned philantropist, once said, "Any prediction beyond six weeks is worthless."