James Smith, a professor of finance at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will discuss economic forecasting during an address at 6 p.m., Monday, March 18 in McKinnon Hall, located in Moseley Center on the Elon University campus.
Smith has more than 25 years of experience as an economic forecaster. He serves on the forecasting panels for Blue Chip, Bridge News and Business Week magazines, and served as chief economist for the National Association of Realtors from 1999-2000. He was recognized by the Wall Street Journal in 1999 as the most accurate forecaster among its panel members for two of the previous three years.
Smith has worked in a variety of industrial, government and academic positions. He worked for Sears, Roebuck and Co., from 1965-1980, and was chief economist for Union Carbide Corp., from 1980-85. He has also served as a consultant to the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, where he formalized the process of developing economic forecasts for the Reagan administration.