The University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business will soon host the 41stAnnual Economic Outlook Conference. The EOC will explore whether the South Carolina and national economies will continue recovering going into 2022 from COVID-19 disruptions and uncertainty.
The Moore School will hold its annual conference on Tuesday, Dec. 7, from 12-4 p.m., with state and national political and economic experts. The event will address the dramatic changes to the economy during the pandemic. Looking ahead, speakers will provide an outlook for jobs, housing and business conditions. The event will be interactive and will include several opportunities for Q&As.
Speakers include:
- Mick Mulvaney, former White House chief of staff, South Carolina congressman and acting director
of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, presenting “Understanding Washington:
Why Inflation May Be More Than Transitory.”
From a non-partisan perspective, Mulvaney will discuss how much of the recent attention on Washington’s impact on inflation has focused on what might be perceived as one-off events: the COVID-19 pandemic, huge spending bills, temporary unemployment benefits, etc. He said that perspective isn’t wrong, but it does gloss over other more structural — and enduring — tendencies in Washington. Mulvaney will also examine how Washington may be creating quasi-permanent inflationary pressure. - Laura Ullrich, a regional economist for Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Charlotte branch, presenting
“An Economic Update: Where We’ve Been, Where We Are and Where We’re Going.”
Ullrich’s presentation will cover the impact of the COVID-19-induced recession and the recovery that has followed. She will pay special attention to the labor market and current employment trends. - Joey Von Nessen, research economist with the USC Darla Moore School of Business, who will present
the South Carolina economic forecast for 2022.
- Doug Woodward, division of research director and professor at the USC Darla Moore School of Business,
presenting “Will Asset Prices Boom Abate in 2022?”
Woodward will explore how the Federal Reserve pumped an unprecedented $5 trillion into the U.S. economy since the pandemic began in March 2020 and how the central bank kept interest rates at historic lows. To date, there has been no hyperinflation in the prices of goods and services as a result of this easy-money policy. Instead, assets prices have soared — from home values to stocks and cryptocurrencies. An unintended consequence has been to exacerbate America’s wealth inequality between “haves” and “have nots". Woodward will discuss what will happen as the central bank scales back the easy-money policy in the coming year. He will address the questions: will the asset market bubbles finally burst and what are the implications for the South Carolina economy?
The Economic Outlook Conference is sponsored by the South Carolina Research Authority.
Conference attendees will have the option to attend in person or virtually. The price
of attendance is $55 in person with lunch and $40 to attend virtually. USC students,
staff and faculty can attend virtually for free.
Media are invited and can attend in person or virtually for free. Media who are interested
in attending should contact Marjorie Riddle Duffie. Register or learn more by visiting sc.edu/moore/eoc.