Aurora Regional Chamber Offers 2010 Economic Forecast

Expert to Address Lunch on Thursday, Jan. 21, at 11:00 a.m.

Andrew B. Busch, Director of BMO Capital Markets and a Global Currency and Public Policy Strategist in Chicago will provide insight into the 2010 economy. Busch has been heard on WBBM radio and numerous cable and local financial programs.

Busch is a senior fellow on economic issues for the Illinois Policy Institute and consults with the staffs from the US Treasury, Congress, and the White House on economic and financial market issues. He was an adviser on the economy and the financial markets to US Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

He met recently with all the most senior staff at the US Treasury and has advised the last three US Treasury secretaries, including Tim Geithner.

Busch joined BMO Financial Group in 1990 in the foreign exchange trading room of Harris Trust and Savings Bank, which merged with Bank of Montreal’s room in 1995.

In his blog today, Busch writes:

As a reformed currency trader, I often can asked why I spend my time following what happens in politics. Does the resignation of Sen. Dodd really matter? Why should we care if Congress fights over health care or regulatory reform? What difference does it make if there’s an estate tax or not? These are all questions that seem to have very little on the surface to do with currencies and the value of the dollar.

The best answer to all of this is that it all matters. Since the 1930s and the seismic shift of US governmental intervention into the private sector, the economy has been buffeted by the use of the very tools that were supposed to reduce variation in unemployment and growth. Namely, monetary and fiscal policy. As we are focused on politics, we’ll look at the fiscal side of the equation which includes tax and spending policies.

For more information about Andrew Busch, visit his site.

The program, sponsored in part by Harris, NA, will be at Gaslite Manor, 2485 Church Road, Aurora, on Thursday, Jan. 21, at 11:00 a.m. Reservations are required: $25 Members; $35 Non-Members. The Chamber’s 72-hour cancellation policy applies. For information, visit http://www.aurorachamber.com/forecast.asp or call (630) 897-9214.