Research and Ideas (mp3)

Employment is recovering from the severe contraction induced by the pandemic, but it is still way below levels at the start of 2020. Can it fully recover this year? What is the expected role of the stimulus legislation on growth, employment, and inflation? What are the perspectives for the Arizona economy? Top national and regional experts share their economic forecasts and advice on these issues and more.  

PetSmart President and CEO J.K. Symancyk, who has more than a 25-year history in retail, was the keynote speaker at the first Economic Club of Phoenix luncheon of 2020. Listen as he shares about the privately held bricks-and-mortar pet chain and how it’s moving forward in this exciting and dynamic time in retail.

Professor of Economics Bart Hobijn provided the outlook for the national and global economies at the 56th Annual ASU Economic Forecast Luncheon on Dec. 11, 2019, at the Phoenix Convention Center. He joined the W. P. Carey Economics Department at Arizona State University in summer 2015. He is an applied macroeconomist, whose special interests are technological progress and economic growth, price measurement, and labor market dynamics. Prior to joining ASU, Hobijn worked in the Economic Research departments of the Federal Reserve Banks of San Francisco and New York. He has also taught classes at U.C. Berkeley, City University of New York, INSEAD, New York University, and VU University Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. He serves as a member of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ technical advisory committee. He completed his PhD in economics at New York University and his MS in econometrics at Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Netherlands. His research has been published in several of the leading academic journals in economics, including the American Economic Review, Quarterly Journal of Economics, and Journal of Monetary Economics. He has more than 60 publications and more than 6,000 citations on Google Scholar.

He's a research Professor of Economics in the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and Director of the school’s JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center. The Center maintains the Western Blue Chip Economic Forecast and Greater Phoenix Economic Forecast websites. McPheters also oversees the Job Growth USA website that tracks employment for all industries in the U.S. states and metropolitan areas. The website is frequently used by economists, financial analysts, economic development specialists, and, during election season, fact-checking organizations to evaluate claims by candidates regarding job creation statistics and policies. His writings on the Western region have been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Economist, Business Week, The New York Times, and Newsweek as well as major metropolitan area newspapers throughout the nation. He has appeared nationally on Good Morning America, Fox News, Marketplace on NPR, and CNN commenting on the economic outlook. As director of the Economic Outlook Center, since 1987 McPheters has delivered a cumulative total of more than 500 speeches and presentations to various public and private audiences at business and academic conferences in Arizona and across the nation. McPheters has published numerous articles in books and professional journals on various topics, including immigration, executive compensation, monetary policy, international business cycles, and issues in law and economics. At the federal level, his work has been supported by the United States departments of Justice, Transportation, Agriculture, and the Treasury. In Arizona, he has completed research projects for the Arizona Department of Transportation, Sky Harbor International Airport, Boeing, and many other public and corporate sponsors. McPheters completed his undergraduate studies at San Francisco State University and received his Ph.D. in economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He has been at ASU since 1976, teaching courses at the undergraduate and graduate level in monetary and regional economics. In addition, has held various administrative positions at ASU including Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Programs in the W. P. Carey School of Business from 1991 – 2008.

Robert J. Barro, the Paul M. Warburg Professor of Economics at Harvard University, delivered the keynote address at the 56th Annual ASU Economic Forecast Luncheon on Dec. 11, 2019, at the Phoenix Convention Center. Robert J. Barro is Paul M. Warburg Professor of Economics at Harvard University, a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He has a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University and a B.S. in physics from Caltech. Barro is co-editor of Harvard’s Quarterly Journal of Economics and has been President of the Western Economic Association and Vice President of the American Economic Association. He was a viewpoint columnist for Business Week from 1998 to 2006 and a contributing editor of The Wall Street Journal from 1991 to 1998. He has written extensively on macroeconomics and economic growth. Recent research involves rare macroeconomic disasters, corporate tax reform, religion & economy, empirical determinants of economic growth, and economic effects of public debt and budget deficits. Recent books include Religion and Economy (forthcoming with Rachel McCleary), Economic Growth (2nd edition, with Xavier Sala-i-Martin), Nothing Is Sacred: Economic Ideas for the New Millennium, Determinants of Economic Growth, and Getting It Right: Markets and Choices in a Free Society.

State Forty Eight, the apparel line that offers gear for those proud to represent the state of Arizona, has been named the winner of the 2019 Spirit of Enterprise Award for its innovation and growth, as well as its ethics and positive impact on Arizona’s economy. State Forty Eight is known for redefining the status-quo and inspiring others to rise up and stand for what they believe in. Co-founder Michael Spangenberg accepted the 2019 Spirit of Enterprise Award on Wednesday, Nov. 13. Spirit of Enterprise is part of the Economic Club of Phoenix (ECP) luncheon series, presented by Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business.

W. P. Carey's top experts answered questions about the state and nation at the Annual Economic Outlook Luncheon, presented by the Economic Club of Phoenix. Hear Mark Stapp, Fred E. Taylor Professor in Real Estate and executive director of the Master of Real Estate Development program, explain the concerns over affordable housing amid the rapid growth in home prices.

W. P. Carey's top experts answered questions about the state and nation at the Annual Economic Outlook Luncheon, presented by the Economic Club of Phoenix. Lee McPheters, research professor of economics and director of the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center, offers a first look at the year ahead for Arizona and the Phoenix metro area, along with an update on year-to-date performance in 2019.

W. P. Carey's top experts answered questions about the state and nation at the Annual Economic Outlook Luncheon, presented by the Economic Club of Phoenix. Listen to Dennis Hoffman, professor of economics and director of the Seidman Research Institute, who examines recent national trends and discusses the factors that will influence those trends going forward.

Doug Parker was named chairman and CEO of American Airlines Group in 2013. Previously, Parker was chairman and CEO of US Airways. Before the merger of US Airways and America West Airlines in 2005, he was chairman, president, and CEO of America West. Under Parker’s leadership, US Airways achieved record revenue growth, operational performance, and profit margins that outpaced most industry peers. Parker has been a vocal proponent of airline industry consolidation, which provides a more stable and competitive industry for employees, customers, communities, and stockholders. Prior to joining America West in 1995, Parker served in multiple leadership roles with Northwest Airline and American Airlines. He received a BA in economics from Albion College in 1984 and an MBA from Vanderbilt University in 1986.

Lois E. Krahn, MD was recently named interim CEO of Mayo Clinic Arizona. In addition, she's a professor of psychiatry in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology and the Division of Pulmonary Medicine. In addition to Dr. Krahn's duties as interim CEO, she serves as the director of Mayo Clinic's Center of the Science of Healthcare Delivery. She is also a member of both the Mayo Clinic Board of Governors and Board of Trustees. One of the most recognized and respected names in health care, Mayo Clinic has established a culture of innovation, always looking to create new sciences and technologies. As the health care sector has become more complex, Mayo Clinic is focusing on how to innovate services and delivery, shifting focus to patient-centered care. Listen to Dr. Krahn's keynote speech as she shares her thoughts on innovation in health care — from who pays for it and the players in it to the partnerships and challenges.

Research Professor of Economics Lee McPheters, who is the director of the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center, shared the history of the Lawrence R. Klein Award, regarded as the best known and longest-standing achievements in the economics field.

Tomas Gorny is a Polish-born, American entrepreneur and the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of UnitedWeb, a holdings company, and Nextiva, a cloud communications provider. He has founded several successful technology companies, including IPOWER in 2001, which was sold to Warburg and Goldman Sachs for nearly $1 billion in 2011 and later went public. He launched Nextiva in 2006, followed by SiteLock in 2008. In 2014, Nextiva was named the fastest-growing telecommunications company in North America and the fastest-growing tech company in Arizona by Deloitte. In 2015, SiteLock took Nextiva’s place as the fastest-growing tech company in Arizona, with Nextiva coming in second. In 2018, SiteLock sold to ABRY Partners LLC. Gorny has received numerous awards for his leadership in the technology industry nationwide. He was named Arizona’s Top Tech CEO in 2017 by the Phoenix Business Journal. His latest honor is the 2018 Spirit of Enterprise Award, which was presented to him at the Economic Club of Phoenix luncheon.

Hear expert answers to audience questions from McPheters, John Cochrane, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, and W. P. Carey Professor of Economics Bart Hobjin.

The first Economic Club of Phoenix luncheon of the 2018-19 season on Nov. 15, featured Jim Fish of Waste Management. Consistently named one of the world’s most ethical companies and one of the best employers for veterans, Waste Management is the largest environmental solutions provider in North America, with more than 20 million commercial, industrial, and municipal customers across the U.S. and Canada. The company is perhaps best known as America’s largest residential recycler. Fish, who earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the W. P. Carey School before receiving his MBA at the University of Chicago, has been with Waste Management since 2001.

In the first Economic Club of Phoenix Luncheon of the 2018-19 season, listen to the Economic Minute from Dennis Hoffman, the director of the L. William Seidman Research Institute and professor of economics. He shares the arithmetic on whether 3 percent gross domestic product and above is sustainable and why it matters.

What's next for Arizona's economy? Will the stock market continue its record climb, and what impact can national trends and policies have here at home? Director of the L. William Seidman Research Institute Dennis Hoffman, Director of the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center Lee McPheters, and Director of the Master of Real Estate Development program Mark Stapp, who is the Fred E. Taylor Professor in Real Estate, examine where the economy is headed, share about the state’s population growth, and give a first glance at the Arizona outlook for the upcoming year.  

W. L. Gore & Associates President and CEO Terri Kelly, who has worked for the global materials science company perhaps best known for its GORE-TEX fabrics products, was awarded the 2018 Executive of the Year Award by Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business. The W. P. Carey Dean's Council honored her at a luncheon on April 12. In her speech, Kelly shares about Gore's distinct culture and leadership model.

The owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and host of ABC’s “Shark Tank" gave a spur-of-the-moment presentation at Arizona State University on Oct. 11, thanks to the Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity.

Research Professor of Economics Lee McPheters, who is the director of the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center at the W. P. Carey School of Business, expects Arizona to continue attracting people from other states but said additional population could put a strain on the Valley's resources. “We expect steady, sustainable but not spectacular growth — certainly better than most places. We’re close to a top 10 growth state but not in the top five.” Listen to McPheter's entire 2018 outlook for Arizona at the 54th Annual Economic Forecast Luncheon on Nov. 29, 2017.