Experts to weigh in on economic recovery at annual luncheon

Will our sluggish economic recovery finally speed up in 2015?

Top experts will deliver their forecasts for the state, nation, stock market and housing market at the Valley’s largest and most trusted economic-forecasting event on Dec. 3.

The 51st Annual Economic Forecast Luncheon is co-sponsored by the Department of Economics at Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business and JPMorgan Chase. About 1,000 people are expected to attend the event at the Phoenix Convention Center.

“Most analysts will probably be happy to close the books on the Arizona economy for 2014,” says one of the speakers, research professor Lee McPheters, director of the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center at the W. P. Carey School of Business.

“Though we had a few bright spots of job growth, such as those in health care and finance, we also saw losses in the state’s key sectors of manufacturing and construction," McPheters said. "Arizona’s overall job creation was only about 2 percent, when our long-term average is closer to 4 percent.

"If 2015 projections for better growth at the national level hold up, that could finally be the spark Arizona needs to get back on track.”

Event presentations will include forecasts on:

• Phoenix and the regional economy from McPheters, who is also editor of the prestigious Arizona and Western Blue Chip Economic Forecast publications

• The U.S. economy from John Lonski, chief capital markets economist of Moody’s Analytics, who regularly contributes to forecasting surveys from The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News and the Philadelphia Reserve Bank

• The financial sector from James Glassman, managing director and senior economist for JPMorgan Chase & Co., who is frequently cited by the financial media and previously served in various research divisions at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C.

• Real estate and construction from Elliott D. Pollack, chief executive officer of Elliott D. Pollack and Company, a highly regarded Scottsdale-based economic and real estate consulting firm

The 51st Annual Economic Forecast Luncheon is scheduled to take place from 11:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., Dec. 3, in the Phoenix Convention Center’s South Ballroom. Admission is $95 per person. Proceeds are used to support student scholarships, faculty research and other academic and professional activities in the Department of Economics at the W. P. Carey School of Business.

For more information, including registration details, go to wpcarey.asu.edu/efl or call 480-965-3531.