Brian Wesbury

Brian S. Wesbury (born, 1958) is a prominent American economist and economic forecaster.

He holds an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Montana. He began his career in 1982 at the Harris Bank in Chicago. He served as Vice President and Economist for the Chicago Corporation and then as Senior Vice President and Chief Economist for Griffin, Kubik, Stephens, & Thompson, a Chicago Investment Bank. He is now the Chief Economist at First Trust Advisors L.P, a financial services firm headquartered in Lisle, Illinois.

He was honored in 2004 by USA Today as one of the top 10 economic forecasters in the United States, and ranked by The Wall Street Journal as the nation’s #1 U.S. economic forecaster in 2001. He is a monthly contributor for The American Spectator magazine, and serves as the magazine’s economics editor. He is published regularly in the The Wall Street Journal, and is a CNBC contributor. McGraw-Hill published his first book, "The New Era of Wealth", in October 1999.

Wesbury is a member of the Academic Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and also an adjunct professor of economics at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. In 1995 and 1996, he served as Chief Economist for the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress.

Personal Life and Early Career

Wesbury was born in 1958 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He received his BA in Economics from the University of Montana in 1981 and is noted as an accomplished macro economist. A few years later, he attended Northwestern University for graduate level business studies, and received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.

Wesbury the Optimist

Throughout his career as an economist, Wesbury held fast to his beliefs that the economy was not always doing as poorly as the critics believed. Through empirical studies on what moves the global marketplace, Wesbury held fast to his contrarian beliefs that if an economy were given the three key ingredients of economic freedom, low taxes, open markets and a supportive societal and governmental infrastructure, it would be primed for prosperity.

Chief Economist of the Joint Economic Committee

Beginning in January 1995, this Committee provided information for members of the US Congress regarding policy decision-making and economic growth objectives. Here, Wesbury directed and advised committee members and members of congress on policy matters and relating to the United States and other nations.

Wesbury after Government

After a 13 year stay as Chief Economist for Chicago investment bank Griffin, Kubik, Stephens, & Thompson, and time away from the private sector to serve in government, Wesbury is currently Chief Economist for First Trust Portfolios, a financial services firm located in Lisle, Illinois.

References

*
*

*"The Budget and the Economy: Brian S. Wesbury Testimony before the Senate Committee on the Budget." Full Text: http://budget.senate.gov/democratic/testimony/2002/wesbury_hrng012902.pdf

*"Wesbury "Best Economic Forecaster" Full text: https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/kwo/spr04/inbrief/wesbury.htm

*"Fair but Unbalanced" Wall Street Journal full text: http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110010446

*"Pouting Pundits of Pessisism" Wall Street Journal full text: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110007622

*"Nationally Renowned U.S. Economic Forecaster, Joins The Heartland Institute as Senior Fellow" The Heartland Institute. Press Release http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=17250