What’s in Store for the Economy? Find Out at Chapman’s 44th Annual Economic Forecast Presentation will include a special report critiquing California's housing plan.

If ever there was a year not to miss Chapman University’s annual Economic Forecast, this is it.

Within a scenario of mixed conditions – improved employment but rising energy and food prices, stabilizing COVID-19 cases but worries about winter surges – university economists will share their predictions for 2022 when they present their 44th annual Economic Forecast on Tuesday, Dec. 14, at 3 p.m. in Musco Center for the Arts.

Along with their reports on housing, construction and forecasts for local, state and national economies, the economists also will discuss timely topics affecting the economy, including supply chain delays that have plagued businesses from Main Street to Wall Street and COVID-19.

Does California Have Enough Housing?

A special report will be presented that critiques the state’s plan for increasing the housing supply in California. It will also examine housing prices in California and Orange County and the prospects for a correction in housing prices next year.

Attendees also will learn how Orange County stacks up as an innovation hub. Last year Doti and colleagues at UC Irvine introduced the Chapman-UCI Innovation Indicator, a gauge that measures growth in the innovation industries, which brings high-paying professional jobs to the regions where they locate.

How to Grow Innovation Industries

At this year’s forecast, Doti will unveil an expanded innovation index ranking of 50 industries that are in the top 20% of R&D spending. California and Orange County’s ranking over time as compared to 50 other metropolitan statistical areas across the nation will be examined. Research findings will be presented that reveal for the first time the socio-economic factors that nurture and sustain innovation in an urban area.

The Chapman forecast is shaped by the econometric model developed by Doti and fellow Chapman researchers and is recognized as one of the most accurate and respected in the nation. 

Stock Market Forecast

Additional Forecast Update presenters will include:

• Professor Raymond Sfeir, Ph.D., director of the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research in the Argyros School of Business and Economics. Sfeir has served as a research fellow in the Anderson Center since 1988, as director of the Orange County Purchasing Managers Survey since 1988, and as director of the California Purchasing Managers survey from 2002 to the present.
• Professor Fadel Lawandy, director of the C. Larry Hoag Center for Real Estate and Finance and the Janes Financial Center, Lawandy has more than 16 years of experience in the financial industry with extensive expertise in banking, real estate, business lending and portfolio management. He retired as a guided portfolio manager from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney to join Hunter Wise Financial Group, LLC.

This year’s sponsors include Bank of America, Edwards Lifesciences, Christine & Bradley Comp, C&L Refrigeration, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, First American Financial, Kaiser Permanente, RSI Holding, Whittier Trust, City of Hope OC, Morrissette Family, Tangram Interiors, Wells Fargo, Orange County Business Journal, Orange County Register and Yassai Properties.