Cal Lutheran CERF to present VC forecast

(CAMARILLO, Calif. – Oct. 26, 2016) The California Lutheran University Center for Economic Research and Forecasting will present its once-a-year Ventura County forecast during a seminar from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 10 at the Serra Center.

Executive Director Bill Watkins will present the county’s forecast for the last time before retiring from Cal Lutheran. In addition to giving the 2016 forecast, Watkins will provide a historical perspective on Ventura County’s economy.

The event will also feature an analysis of the fall election by Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters, a presentation on CERF’s water and land-use policy initiatives by center economist Matthew Fienup, and a discussion of whether California’s tax revolt is over by Fox & Hounds Daily Editor-in-Chief Joel Fox.

Watkins worked with director of economics Dan Hamilton to launch CERF and a graduate program in economics after they joined the Cal Lutheran faculty in 2009. In September, the duo took second place in the 2015-2016 National Association for Business Economics Outlook Award competition for the accuracy of their forecasts. Watkins has been providing unflinching forecasts since 2000, when he joined the Economic Forecast Project at University of California, Santa Barbara.

Walters began writing California’s only daily newspaper column devoted to California political, economic and social events for the Sacramento Union in 1981, and he and the column moved to the Sacramento Bee in 1984. His column now appears in more than 50 California newspapers.

Fienup is an expert on the economics of land use, particularly issues surrounding urban growth restriction and groundwater management in Ventura County and California. His research looks at unintended consequences of environmental policies. He teaches graduate courses in economics at Cal Lutheran.

Fox co-founded and is co-publisher of the Fox & Hounds website, which provides commentary on California business and politics. He has served as a public affairs consultant and advocate for small businesses and taxpayers in the state for 35 years. He worked for Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association for 19 years.

CERF provides county, state and national forecasts for government, business and nonprofit leaders. NABE, The Economist and CNN have included CERF forecasters in their surveys on economic policies and outlooks, home prices and jobs.

To register, visit clucerf.org. Registration fees, which include lunch and access to the full forecast, are $65 in advance and $75 at the door. For more information, contact Karen Gauthier at 805-493-3668 or kgauthier@callutheran.edu.