Find out what top economists and banking, real estate, education and healthcare executives think will be the major issues facing Connecticut and their respective industries in 2016.
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As part of Hartford Business Journal's 2015-2016 Book of Lists we've added an economic forecast section in which top economists and banking, real estate, education and healthcare executives provided insights into the major issues facing Connecticut and their respective industries in 2016.
Below you'll find the full forecasts, which appear longer than the print versions. Due to space constraints, HBJ only published small snippets of each forecast in the Book of Lists publication. (View the digital edition here)
Economist Outlooks
- Peter Gioia: 2016: A sea of navigable risks
- Fred Carstensen: CT's state of uncertainty
Economists' 2016 Predictions
Real Estate
- Less demand for overpriced properties: By Joanne Breen, Co-owner of ERA Sargis-Breen Real Estate in Newington, and president of the Greater Hartford Association of Realtors
- First-time buyers, investors rule: By Sandy Maier Schede, Broker/owner of Maier Real Estate in Meriden, and 2015 president of the Connecticut Association of Realtors
- CT public-policy decisions will drive home values: By Curt Clemens Sr., President/founder, Century 21/Clemens & Sons, Rocky Hill/West Hartford
- Job stability, interest rates are housing’s ‘X’ factors: By Candace Adams, CEO, Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate Services New England in Wallingord
- Compound impact of a growing economy: By Frank H. Hird, Vice president of O,R&L Commercial in Rocky Hill, and president of the Connecticut Chapter of Industrial and Office Realtors
Health Care
- Health care is an economic engine: By Elliot Joseph, President and CEO, Hartford Healthcare
- Medical liability and defensive medicine key issues: By Matt Katz, CEO, Connecticut State Medical Society
- Medicaid’s progress and fragility: By Ellen Andrews, Executive Director, Connecticut Health Policy Project
- Care coordination will be seen as cost-control opportunity: By John O’Connell, President, C. M. Smith Agency Inc.
Banking & Finance
- Time for interest rates to climb: By Nicholas Perna, Economist, Webster Bank
- Margin pressures remain: By Rick Cantele, President/CEO, Salisbury Bank & Trust, and president of the Connecticut Bankers Association
- CT firms will be courted: By Peter Samson, Senior vice president and commercial regional leader, Berkshire Bank
- State policies threaten CT’s economic parade: By George W. Hermann, President and CEO, Windsor Federal Savings & Loan, and president of the Connecticut Community Bankers Association (CCBA)
- Economic momentum building: By Mark Vitner, Managing director and senior economist, Wells Fargo Securities
Education
- Balancing budgets amid state budget cuts: By Mark Ojakian, President of the Board of Regents of the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities (CSCU) system
- Diversity and campus climate key issues to watch: By Susan Herbst, President of the University of Connecticut
- Developing Hartford’s future workforce: By Beth Schiavino-Narvaez, Superintendent of Hartford Public Schools
- Controlling higher-education costs: By Walter Harrison, President of the University of Hartford
- Higher-ed’s role in narrowing the inequality gap: By Michael S. Roth, President of Wesleyan University
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