News & Media

2023 Economic Outlook

Experts to Discuss Financial Forecasts Nov. 7 at Annual Ohio Wesleyan Conference

DELAWARE, Ohio – Bull or bear? Boom or bust? Profit or loss? What could happen to the local, national, and international economies during 2023?

Three experts will share their forecasts during Ohio Wesleyan University’s 2023 Economic Outlook Conference. The free panel discussion will begin at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7 in Benes Room B of OWU’s Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave., Delaware. Panelists for this year’s Economic Outlook Conference are:

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Bill LaFayette, Ph.D., the owner of Regionomics LLC. His central Ohio company focuses on small-area economies with a focus on strategic economic and workforce analysis and planning. Through Regionomics, LaFayette helps clients understand regional and community economic, demographic, and workforce trends, and then works with them to develop strategies to respond to those trends. He also is an adjunct faculty member in the master’s degree program of The Ohio State University’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs. Previously, he served as vice president of economic analysis for the Columbus Chamber of Commerce.

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Mark Schweitzer, Ph.D., senior vice president of research and advisor to the research director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. His personal research has focused on the macroeconomic impact of labor market developments and the identification of factors contributing to regional economic growth. In addition to working at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, he has served as a senior economist at the Bank of England and as vice president and branch executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s Denver Branch.

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Ian Sheldon, Ph.D., Andersons Chair for Agricultural Marketing, Trade and Policy in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics at The Ohio State University. Sheldon’s primary research interests involve the interaction between trade and environmental policies; analysis of the effects of exchange rate volatility on international trade flows; examination of the effects of policy on trade in ethanol; and analysis of China’s exchange rate policies. He currently is working on issues related to carbon tariffs and the impact of intellectual property rights on U.S. seed exports.

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During the OWU conference, each expert will speak for 15 minutes and then take questions from the audience and from panel moderator Goran Skosples, Ph.D., Ohio Wesleyan associate professor of economics and chair of the Department of Economics and Business.

Skosples, who joined the Ohio Wesleyan faculty in 2006, encourages students to relate each lesson to current events to help them understand the underlying importance of government economic policies in their daily lives. His research deals with institutional changes in post-communist countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, banking and credit, and small business finance.

Ohio Wesleyan’s annual Economic Outlook Conference is co-sponsored by the university’s Department of Economics and Business and by The Woltemade Center for Economics, Business and Entrepreneurship. Learn more at owu.edu/economics or owu.edu/woltemade.

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Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers more than 70 undergraduate majors and competes in 24 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Through its signature experience, the OWU Connection, Ohio Wesleyan teaches students to understand issues from multiple academic perspectives, volunteer in service to others, build a diverse and global perspective, and translate classroom knowledge into real-world experience through internships, research, and other hands-on learning. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives” and included on the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “Best Colleges” lists. Connect with OWU expert interview sources at owu.edu/experts or learn more at owu.edu.