2008 San Diego Economic Forecast Conference

San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina

Marina Ballroom DE
333 West Harbor Drive
San Diego, California

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Registration and Breakfast 7:30 AM
Program: 8:00-10:30 AM

Recession or Recovery in 2008?


On February 7, 2008, Beacon Economics presented their inaugural Inland Empire Economic Forecast Event.

Conference Materials:

FEATURED SPEAKERS


Jon Haveman
Principal
Beacon Economics		 See our predictions in the Los Angeles Times...
Christopher Thornberg
Principal
Beacon Economics
 

FISCAL OUTLOOK PANEL




Fred Silva
Fiscal Affairs Advisor
Beacon Economics
(Moderator)


Michael C. Genest
Finance Director
State of California


Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny
40th District
California State Senate
(Invited)

Walter F. Ekard
Chief Administrative Officer
County of San Diego


Attend the San Diego Conference and find out about 2007's troubled, but mixed, bag of messages...
  • Third quarter growth in 2007 was a whopping 4.9 percent, yet most economists were downgrading their forecasts.
  • Consumer spending held but retailers cringed as the Christmas shopping season fizzled.
  • Labor markets appeared steady, yet corporate profits started to shrink for the first time in 5 years.
And get answers to 2008's burning questions...
  • Bounce or Bust? Will exports and the US consumer bail Wall Street out of yet another financial debacle? Or is the U.S. economy heading for an unpleasant recession?
  • Que sera sera... will the current interest freeze plan have any effect on the mounting number of home foreclosures? Does it even matter in the nation's imploding housing market?
  • Mind the Gap! California has forecasted a $14 billion budget deficit... could it be worse? Can anything stop the bleeding?
All conference attendees received Beacon's new 100-plus page San Diego Economic Forecast Book - an unprecedented overview of the region's current economic conditions and analysis of what the near future holds.

Beacon Economics

Regional Economic Forecast Conferences

If it was a country, California would have the ninth largest economy on earth - equivalent in size to the economies of Italy, France, Russia, and Brazil. In fact, the state would be among the fastest growing of the world's developed nations - with an annual GDP growth of over 4 percent in the past decade. Still, it's not that simple.

Within California's vast economy, there are an enormous range of regional economies - as different from each other as one nation is from another. Consider the 2001 recession -- when California was home to some of the hardest hit local economies in the nation (San Francisco and San Jose) and home to some of the fastest growing (the Inland Empire, Sacramento, and San Diego). However, despite the tremendous and obvious diversity, most public discussion takes a statewide view and stops there.

For local businesses, governments, and other organizations trying to make decisions regarding employment and investment, aggregate economic analyses fall short - missing key nuances, trends, and conditions that may be specific to a local area. Beacon Economics is committed to applying its expertise and years of academic and professional experience studying regional economies and producing local economic forecasts to inform the state's many regions.

To this end, we launched our Regional Economic Forecast Conference Series in 2007. These 2-3 hour morning events are hosted within local communities across the state and draw between 200 and 500 representatives of corporations, small business, local and state government, the non-profit world, and trade and interest groups. Every conference covers important state and national economic trends - with a focus on what these trends may mean for the local area. Presentations by Beacon economists also provide a detailed look at the regional economy - both long-term growth trends, and the coming year's likely ups and downs. A panel of leading local experts join the discussion, and topics range from income and employment to demographics and real estate. For each event, Beacon produces a Regional Economic Forecast Book, which is given to all attendees. This 100-plus page analysis is an exhaustive, up-to-date examination of the local, state, and national economy, and includes a wealth of local statistics and discussions about important economic indicators.

Whether in San Diego, Fresno, Riverside, San Jose, or Los Angeles, Beacon's Economic Forecast Conferences connect business, political, and community leaders, and serve to produce and inspire critical discussions about the most important economic issues and trends facing a region.