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Brian Wesbury        

Top Economic Forecaster, Economics Editor of The American Spectator & Wall Street Journal Contributor

Brian Wesbury is Chief Economist at First Trust Advisors L.P., a financial services firm based in Wheaton, Illinois. Wesbury is also a senior fellow at The Heartland Institute and serves on the Board of Advisors to First Trust Capital Partners, an affiliated private-equity firm. He was named the #1 U.S. Economic Forecaster by the Wall Street Journal and one of the top 5 economics keynote speakers by Speaker Platform.

Wesbury is a member of the Academic Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and is also an adjunct professor of economics at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Additionally, he sits on the Board of Managers of Three-Sixty Advisory Group, a Pasadena, California-based consulting and private-equity firm. In 2012, he was named a Fellow of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, TX where he works closely with its 4%-Growth Project.

Wesbury began his career in 1982 at the Harris Bank in Chicago. Former positions include Vice President and Economist for the Chicago Corporation and Senior Vice President and Chief Economist for Griffin, Kubik, Stephens, & Thompson. In 1995 and 1996, he served as Chief Economist for the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress. Mr. Wesbury received an M.B.A. from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Montana.

McGraw-Hill published his first book, "The New Era of Wealth," in October 1999. His most recent book, "It's Not As Bad As You Think," was published in November 2009 by John Wiley & Sons. Wesbury writes frequently for the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal and is the Economics Editor of The American Spectator. In 2007, he was named a CNBC Contributor.

In 2011, Wesbury received the University of Montana's Distinguished Alumni Award. This award honors outstanding alumni who have "brought honor to the University, the state or the nation." There have been 267 recipients of this award out of a potential pool of 91,000 graduates.

Speech Topics

The Plow Horse Economy Trudges Forward

The traumatic economic upheaval of 2008 caused many analysts and investors to believe that any recovery would be fragile, short-lived and volatile. Instead, while the recovery has been relatively slow, it has been both persistent and consistent. Brian Wesbury, calls it a Plow Horse Economy. It's not going to win any races, but it's not going to keel over and die either. This recovery is not a new normal ? something different than we have seen before, but in fact is being driven by new technologies ? the same thing that has driven growth in the US for more than two centuries. This does not mean all is well. Large debt, big deficits, bad policy, high government spending and problems in Europe are all things to worry about. But, putting them in perspective is the key to successful investing and business management. Just maybe things aren't as bad as you think. Brian Wesbury, a winner of the Wall Street Journal's annual economic forecasting award, nationally acclaimed speaker and author will help navigate these confusing and volatile times.

It's Not as Bad as You Think

Wesbury shows that the future may be scary to ponder, but it will ultimately be profitable, globally and over the long haul. He reveals the real reasons behind the "Panic of 2008" and why it seems so much more severe than past crises. He uncovers a history of entrepreneurship that you should trust, as well as explains how a V-shaped recovery can take place and how wealth you had thought you lost can be found again.

News

The 'QE-xcuse' in explaining stock market gains doesn't add up ...
Stop attributing all of the stock market's gains to the Fed's quantitative easing policies, says Brian Wesbury of First Trust Advisors.Wesbury, whose forecasts have ...

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