CENTER STAGE

Editor’s Note:  Esmael (Essie) Adibi, Ph.D., professor of economics, holder of the A. Gary Anderson Chair in Economic Analysis and director of the University’s A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research since 1985, died of complications from a stroke on Friday, April 8, 2016.  He was 63.

This article appeared several months before his death…

World-renowned Economist Dr. Esmael Adibi conducts his 38^th Annual Economic Forecast at the exclusive Center Club Orange County in Costa Mesa, Calif. Typically, he had the audience laughing …

 

 

By Rick Weinberg, Editor, California Business Journal
Email: Rick@CalBizJournal.com / Mobile: 949-648-3815

WHEN YOUR JOB IS LECTURING ABOUT THE ECONOMY, GDP and government spending, you’d better have a sense of humor otherwise you can bore your audience into a deep sleep.

With Dr. Esmael Adibi, a well-known and respected economist and professor at Chapman University in Orange, Calif., boredom is not an issue when he lectures.

He’s so entertaining, he should be making the rounds on the late-night talk shows with Kimmel, Colbert and the rest of the 11:30 p.m. crowd.

Recently, Dr. Adibi held his 38^th annual Economic Forecast before a packed audience at the exclusive Center Club Orange County in Costa Mesa, Calif. Typically, he had the audience laughing (a few had tears in their eyes from laughter) yet at the same time they were seriously contemplating the impact the economy will have on California this year.

“What’s great about Dr. Adibi is the spin he puts on his lectures,” says Jon W. McClintock, President of Marina Arches Insurance Services, an ultra-high-net-worth financial services company in Orange County, Calif. “He’s always entertaining and humorous, yet he also gives the total economic view from 30,000 feet above and from boots on the ground. He’s as thorough as he is humorous.”

This is the 16^th consecutive year Dr. Adibi has presented his economic forecast at the Center Club, Orange County’s premiere business club geared for executives, networking and private events. He had the crowd in his hands right from the start until the end, when he gave his prediction of who will next occupy the oval office (his analysis been correct in 10 of the last 11 presidential elections, based on economic statistics).

“He’s a Rock Star of economic forecasting,” says Tony Vicari, a financial and insurance expert in Southern California. “He conveys the message and is very clear, yet not too tactical.”

As the Director of the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research and the George Argyros School of Business and Economics, Dr. Adibi has created such an accurate Economic Forecast that it is highly anticipated by the business and government community every year.

With his experience, knowledge, resources, passion, and statistical methods, he has enabled Chapman University to finish first in the U.S. in predicated economic forecasting. UCLA finished second, prompting Dr. Adibi to quip to some USC alumni friends in the audience, “Funny but I don’t see USC on this list.”

One of the most intriguing portions of Dr. Adibi’s forecast was that California is No. 1 in the U.S. in access to capital and No. 2 in Tech and Innovation; it is reflective of California’s national-high $3B in venture capital rating.

However, on the other side of the spectrum, California is No. 49 (out of 50) in the cost of doing business, No. 50 in being business friendly and No. 46 in cost of living.

Negative numbers aside, the economic forecast was highly positive – the U.S., for the most part, “is thriving,” Dr. Adibi says.