Ohio forecasting pig will opine on economy

CHICAGO (Reuters) - "Darke County Dave," a local hog, will opine -- or oswine -- on America's economic outlook on Friday, the Ohio treasurer's office said.

In his inaugural outing, Dave will choose between a trough of sugar or one of sawdust to gauge the economy's future course at the event in Greenville, Ohio, northwest of Dayton. Sugar means the U.S. economy will run sweetly, while sawdust

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Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray, apparently unaware of W. C. Fields' show business adage to "never work with children or animals," will be the keynote speaker at the event, which is sponsored by a Darke County Realtors association.

"I am familiar with bear and bull markets, but hogs are a new one on me," Cordray, an economist who studied at Oxford and the University of Chicago, said on Thursday.

Dave the pig follows in the footsteps -- or hoofprints -- of forecasters such as Phil, a groundhog in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, said to predict how bad winter will be.

(Reporting by Ros Krasny, Editing by Jonathan Oatis)