The Dow Jones Industrial Average is perhaps one of the best known stock market indices in the world. This index is indicative of the overall health of the United States’ economy, and according to CNBC it could be headed through the roof.

Jeremy Siegel of the Wharton School told CNBC in a “SqawkBox” interview that the index could rise by 10 percent or more in the coming fiscal year. Currently the index is sitting on 15,587.78 points, but according to Siegel it could hit 17,000 in 2014.

Avoiding  The Fiscal Cliff

The blue chip index has already posted a 25 percent gain year to date. The average has consistently risen from January 2013 till the present. The index gained 308 points, or 2.4 percent on January 2^nd, according to CNN, and it appears that the upward trend has continued all year. There is no doubt that the stock market indexes rise can be attributed to lawmakers successfully avoiding the “fiscal cliff” that faced the nation in January of this year.

That same day in January, the S&P 500 rose by 2.5 percent and the NASDAQ jumped by 3.1 percent. The entire economy was boosted by the decision of the federal government to avoid the fiscal cliff.

The Future Looks Good

Siegel commented that unless investors participate in major share sales this year, November and December should be very strong months. Because of the strength of the markets, November and December should be positive months this year, and that is a rare occurrence. In fact, it is so rare that in the last 30 years it has happened only four times – 1998, 2006, 2007, and 2010.

According to Siegel, the future looks very promising for the economy and the market. He says that he doesn’t expect another shutdown. He also says that there should not be any major arguments over the financial state of the nation in the coming months, and  there won’t be a budget passed for quite some time.

I think they are going to kick the [budget] can down the road a whole year. So that’ll be off our plate and that will be a very, very positive factor [for] first-quarter 2014.”

You can watch the video of the entire “Squawk Box” interview below.