Atlanta Fed President Lockhart at MTSU

Bloomberg video of Dennis Lockhart at MTSU's Economic Outlook Conference yesterday, Sept. 28.

Economic Outlook Conference

According to the Tennessean, "the common thread [among] the forecasts delivered at MTSU's annual economic outlook conference by Dennis Lockhart, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta; David Penn, MTSU economist; and Don Ratajczak, a consulting economist with Morgan Keegan & Co. ... was that things may get worse before they get better here and in the nation, although it remains unclear whether recent turmoil in the credit markets will resurface.

• "'I cannot rule out a recession for next year, but I can't rule one in either,' Ratajczak said ... [and suggested] concerns among consumers about the economy ... could translate into a weak holiday shopping season.
• "Lockhart suggested 'the bottom of the housing downtown could be ... potentially the second half of 2008 or later.'
• "Penn predicted, 'If we look over the next 12 months, I think we should be happy with 1 percent employment growth (locally).'"

The Stand-Up Economist

Yoram Bauman, a University of Washington professor who dubs himself the "stand-up economist," presents a five-minute translation of Greg Mankiw's 10 Principles of Economics on YouTube. (The video even appears on Mankiw's own blog.)

AUBER Conference

The University of West Florida will be hosting the fall conference of the Association for University Business and Economic Research Oct. 13-16 in Pensacola Beach.

Reminder: MTSU Economic Outlook Conference

Just a reminder: The annual Economic Outlook Conference at MTSU will be Friday, September 28 (registration form / brochure). Keynote speaker will be Dennis Lockhart, president, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. BERC director David A. Penn will give a midstate/regional economic update. Dr. Donald Ratajczak, Regent's Professor of Economics Emeritus, Georgia State University, will give the luncheon address. (www.mtsu.edu/~berc/home.html) For information or reservations, contact Teena Young, 615-898-2764, or tyoung@mtsu.edu.

Current Midstate Economic Indicators Online

The fall issue of Midstate Economic Indicators ("Housing Slowdown Beginning to Spread") is online.

Website Redesign in Progress

The BERC is currently redesigning its website. Please let us know if you have suggestions for how to make the site easier to use and what information you would like to find on it (webmaster). So far only the links for Publications, Database, and Studies main pages work (BERC redesign). Each page will feature a different bright background color. We hope to have the site up and running by September 28 for the annual Economic Outlook Conference.

Current Economic Conditions

A presentation to FirstBank by David A. Penn at Brentwood Country Club September 13 (ppt): http://www.mtsu.edu/~berc/ppts/firstbank2007.ppt
(BERC Studies: http://www.mtsu.edu/~berc/studies.html)

Atlanta Fed CEO to Address Conference

According the MTSU's Record: Dennis P. Lockhart, 14th president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, will be the keynote speaker at the 15th annual Economic Outlook Conference at MTSU, which will be held Friday, Sept. 28, in the James Union Building. Registration at the door will begin at 8:15 a.m. The no-fee conference will adjourn at 1:15 p.m.

"Lockhart, who will speak at 9 a.m., assumed his new post in March and is responsible for the bank's monetary policy, supervision, regulation and payment services. From 2001 to 2003, he was managing partner at the New York-based private equity firm Zephyr Management, with reaches into Africa and Latin America. Prior to that, he served as executive vice president and director at Heller Financial and as president of Heller International Group, which conducted business in North and South America, Europe and Asia. Previously, he worked at Citicorp/Citibank (now Citigroup) and once served in Iran as chief operating office of a banking joint venture between Citibank and an Iranian affiliate.

"Dr. Donald Ratajczak, Regent's Professor of Economics Emeritus at Georgia State University and nationally known economic forecaster, will address the noon luncheon audience. Ratajczak served as director of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State for 27 years. In 1994, he received the Blue Chip award for forecasting accuracy during the four previous years. He appears regularly on CNBC and writes a weekly column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Business Week has cited Ratajczak for his accuracy in predicting national trends. He received his undergraduate degree from Haverford College and his doctorate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology."

Magazine's Manufacturing Issue Review

The BERC just discovered a nice review of our manufacturing issue of Tennessee's Business featuring nanotechnology as the cover story. The review appears on the website of the scientist who created the illustrations. (“In the Future, It Will Be the Little Things That Really Matter,” or www.somewhereville.com/?p=47; Tennessee's Business; www.mtsu.edu/~berc/tnbiz/mfrg/coveredtoc.pdf)

Database Relocation

There is a new link for economic and financial databases maintained by Albert E. DePrince, Jr. (including National Economic Activity, Interest Rates, Industrial Sector, International Data, Household Sector, International Financial Data, Money and Credit, and Tennessee Data) from the BERC database page. Local middle Tennessee area databases (including building permits, employment, historical unemployment rates, and initial unemployment claims) remain on the BERC site with a link from the BERC database page.

Actual Registration Form

The actual registration form for the MTSU Economic Outlook Conference 2007 is now downloadable (in addition to just the conference brochure). (www.mtsu.edu/~berc/home.html)

MTSU Hosting Annual Economic Conference

According to the Daily News Journal: "Jim Burton, dean of MTSU's Jennings A. Jones College of Business, ... said the conference is targeted especially to bankers, business owners and managers, community officials and leaders, as well as business and economics faculty and students — and to anyone interested in economic growth in the region and nation.... David Penn, director of MTSU's Business and Economic Research Center, will provide a midstate/regional economic update. The center maintains significant databases of regional, national and international information and provides research resources and databases for the MTSU community."
(conference brochure) (registration form)

Economic Outlook Conference Registration

The actual registration form for the MTSU Economic Outlook Conference 2007 is now downloadable (in addition to the conference brochure). (www.mtsu.edu/~berc/home.html)

Academy of Economics and Finance 2008

The Academy of Economics and Finance (AEF) will hold its annual meeting at the Sheraton Nashville Downtown Hotel February 13-16, 2008. Deadline for paper submission is October 31. Pictured from the 2007 conference are MTSU Economics and Finance professors Joachim Zietz, Research Fellow, and Albert DePrince, Jr., 2006-2007 president.
Photo © Dr. Robert Stretcher