Past Events

  • September 11, 2018
    12:00 pm - 1:30 pm

Speaker

  • Mine Yücel
    Mine Kuban Yücel is senior vice president and senior research advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. She joined the Bank in 1989 and has previously served as director of research, head of the micro/regional/energy group and director of publications. She is an expert on regional and energy issues and has published numerous articles on energy and regional growth. Yücel is president of the National Association for Business Economics. She serves on the board of the Global Interdependence Center, and the University of Texas at Dallas Energy Board. She was president of the International Association of Energy Economics (IAEE) in 2011 and president of the United States Association of Energy Economics (USAEE) in 2005. She has served on the executive boards of these two organizations, as well as Executive Women of Dallas, Dallas Area Business Economists, the Dallas Chapter of Women in Technology International, Inc. and the Greater Dallas Chamber’s Board of Economists. She received the USAEE Senior Fellow Award in 2007, the Energy Journal Best Paper Award in 2009 and the Outstanding Contributions to the IAEE Award in 2015. Before joining the Bank, she was an assistant professor of economics at Louisiana State University. She has a BS and MS in mathematics from Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey, and a PhD in economics from Rice University in Houston.

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  • July 26, 2018
    12:00 pm - 1:30 pm

Speaker

  • John Silvia, Ph.D
    John Silvia is a managing director and the chief economist for Wells Fargo Securities. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, he has held his position since he joined Wachovia, a Wells Fargo predecessor, in 2002 as the company’s chief economist. Before his current position, John worked on Capitol Hill as senior economist for the U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee and chief economist for the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Before that, he was chief economist of Kemper Funds and managing director of Scudder Kemper Investments, Inc. John served as the president of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) in 2015 and was awarded a NABE Fellow Certificate of Recognition in 2011 for outstanding contributions to the business economics profession and leadership among business economists to the nation. For the second time in three years, he was awarded the best overall forecast by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, as well as the best unemployment rate forecast for 2011. John is on the Bloomberg Best Forecast list for his forecasts of GDP, the ISM manufacturing index, housing starts, and the unemployment rate. John holds B.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from Northeastern University in Boston and has a master’s degree in economics from Brown University. John’s first book, Dynamic Economic Decision Making, was published by Wiley in August, 2011. His second book, Economic and Business Forecasting, was published in 2014, also by Wiley. His third book, Economic Modeling in the Post Great Recession Era, was published in 2017 by Wiley. John is a Certified Business Economist (CBE). He serves as a member of the Blue Chip Panel of Economic Forecasters and also serves on an informal advisory group for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. He served as chair for the Economic Advisory Committee of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Economic Advisory Roundtable. John also serves on the finance committee for the Mint Museum in Charlotte and is a regular lecturer to the Cornell Food Executive Program. John is past president of the Charlotte Economics Club. He has also served on economic advisory committees to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the Public Securities Association. A strong supporter of education and civic affairs, John serves as a member of the Business Advisory Council at the Walker College of Business at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, and on the President’s Council for Charlotte’s Central Piedmont Community College. He has previously served as a board member of the British American Business Council of North Carolina, and on the Economic Development Board for the state of North Carolina, a special appointment by the governor. He has also served on the Business Advisory Committee for the city of Charlotte.

Silvia PresentationAfter 16 years as Chief Economist of Wells Fargo and a storied career that has spanned academia, government and the private sector, John Silvia is retiring. Please join us to hear John’s views on the biggest risks and opportunities facing the economy and lessons learned over the course of his career.   (more…)


  • June 19, 2018
    12:00 pm - 1:30 pm

Speaker

David has worked as a Special Agent for the FBI’s Charlotte field office for over nine years. During that time, David has exclusively investigated crimes committed through the use of computers. Before joining the FBI, David worked in the private sector as an Industrial and Organizational Psychologist. David will discuss current threats and trends in (more…)


  • May 15, 2018
    12:00 pm - 1:30 pm

Speaker

  • Bartley Danielsen
    Dr. Bartley R. Danielsen is an Associate Professor of Business Management at North Carolina State University where he has taught courses in corporate finance, real estate and investments. He coauthors the internationally best-selling textbook, .Foundations of Financial Management (16th ed.). His current research focuses on how charter schools, school vouchers, and other school choice initiatives impact real estate development, property values, and the environment. His research appears in the Real Estate Economics, the Journal of Housing Research, the Journal of Real Estate Research, the Journal of Real Estate Literature, the Review of Financial Studies, the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and numerous other high-quality academic real estate and finance journals. Dr. Danielsen is the founder and President of “Environmentalists for Effective Education” (effective-ed.org), a nonprofit corporation devoted to promoting research and awareness of the importance of educational choices in revitalizing blighted urban areas, reducing urban sprawl, and creating sustainable cities. Dr. Danielsen received his PhD in financial economics from the University of Florida and a Masters of Accounting from the University of Georgia. He is a Certified Public Accountant, and he has provided financial consulting services to numerous domestic and multinational companies.

Over the years, economists have observed that some school choice programs often enhance property values. Neighborhood improvement was not the purpose of these choice programs, but neighborhoods improved spontaneously. Now real estate developers and civic leaders have begun to search for school choice programs that are specifically designed to reduce concentrated poverty, combat urban sprawl, and enhance the quality of life outside the school-house walls. Dr. Danielsen reviews the state of current research and discusses optimal features for choice programs that enhance the quality of urban life.


  • April 18, 2018
    12:00 pm - 1:30 pm

Speaker

The talk will give an overview of health spending and the federal budget. In particular, it will discuss the Affordable Care Act – what is has done, what the current policy issues are – and the longer-term fiscal challenges arising from health spending growth.


  • March 21, 2018
    8:00 am - 11:00 am

Speaker

Dr. Swift will examine the confluence of new technologies on US oil and gas extraction, the revolution now occurring, and its effect on the US manufacturing and the US economy.


  • February 14, 2018
    7:00 am - 10:00 am

Speaker

  • Ken Simonson
    Chief Economist for the Association of General Contractors

Since 2001, Ken Simonson has been the Chief Economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, the leading national association for construction contractors, suppliers and service providers. His weekly one-page email, The Data DIGest, provides 40,000 readers with insight into the economy and what it implies for construction and related industries. Ken has more than 40 years of experience analyzing, advocating and communicating about economic and tax issues for a variety of business groups, federal agencies and an economic consultant firm.