Economic Forecast 2009
The national and the state economies are both experiencing a full-blown recession. The contagion of the national credit crunch, continued housing market instability, business failures and rising unemployment all promise a bleak economic situation in the immediate future.
On January 9, state economist Tom Potiowsky will discuss his official predictions for the state economy in the coming year. As the director of Oregon’s Office of Economic Analysis, Potiowsky is responsible for developing state economic and demographic forecasts and estimating general fund revenues for the state. These forecasts are used to develop both the governor’s proposed budget and the legislatively approved budget.
Tom Potiowsky received a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Colorado. He joined the faculty at Portland State University in 1983, where he served as chair of the Economics Department. Potiowski became state economist in 1999 and served until 2006. He went back to PSU to teach until he once again returned, in 2008, to the post of state economist.
