On board: Charlie D’Agostino, Joseph A Delpit, Jeff Jenkins, Sevetri Wilson and Adam Knapp are among the Baton Rouge business leaders included in Gov.-elect John Bel Edwards’ transition committee for economic development. The committee, announced Friday, will be co-chaired by AT&T Louisiana President Sonia Perez and Greater New Orleans Inc. CEO Michael Hecht. D’Agostino is the executive director of the LSU Innovation Park and Louisiana Business and Technology Center. Delpit is president of Joe Delpit Enterprises. Jenkins is a partner with Bernhard Capital Partners, Wilson is CEO of Solid Ground Innovations and Knapp is president and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber. “The Economic Development Committee will be tasked with generating ideas on ways to strengthen our economy, attract new businesses to the state and grow our existing businesses,” reads a news release. See the complete list of all 30 committee members.
On the way down: Business economists are slightly less bullish about prospects for economic growth next year, according to a survey published this morning. The National Association for Business Economics says the average forecast is for growth of 2.6% next year, down slightly from 2.7% in its previous survey conducted in September. But they expect the jobs market to continue strengthening, with the unemployment rate dropping to 4.7% by the end of 2016. The rate now stands at 5%. The Associated Press reports the survey, conducted Nov. 6-18 among a panel of 49 business economists, struck a slightly downbeat note as experts lowered earlier forecasts on a variety of measures of economic health, including housing starts and industrial production. Further out, two-thirds of those surveyed expect potential economic growth between 2% and 2.5% over the next five years. Read the full story.
‘Flat is the new up’: In the first of a five-part series of interviews with some of Wall Street’s top strategists and managers, David Kostin tells USA Today that the U.S. stock market will likely be flat in the coming year. “Flat is the new up,” says Kostin, chief U.S. equity strategist at Goldman Sachs. Citing the late Yankees great Yogi Berra, Kostin adds: “‘It’s déjà vu all over again.’ We’re likely to get a flat market again in 2016.” Kostin’s 2016 U.S. stock outlook is identical to his 2015 call. At the start of 2015, the Goldman Sachs strategist predicted the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index would finish the year at 2100 (or 2% above the large-company stock index’s 2014 close of 2059). His call was spot-on. The S&P 500 closed Friday at 2092, up 1.6% for the year. For 2016, Kostin is again calling for the S&P 500 to end the year at 2100 (which equates to a gain of less than 1% from Friday’s close). Read the full story.
