Ratajczak’s idea not that far off

Nationally renowned Economist Donald Ratajczak presented his 2004 economic forecast for Milledgeville and the Central Georgia area, Wednesday, Jan. 28, in the Arts and Sciences Auditorium at Georgia College & State University.
Ratajczak stated that the U.S. dollar will weaken, but will eventually strengthen, due to inflation pressures. He also said that the economy looks like it will only get stronger.
The event, sponsored by BB&T and the J. Whitney Bunting School of Business, was free and open to the public. 2004 marked the 16th Annual economic forecast with Ratajczak.
“The economy affects everyone — student’s parents and grandparents, then outwardly to friends and other family members,” Lurline West, director of Business Student & Community Service said. “Anyone who keeps abreast of current events knows that Georgia and the U.S. have lost hundreds of thousands of jobs during the past few years. Most students, especially seniors, who will be entering the job market soon are concerned. When and where will they find employment and what kinds of jobs will be available during the next year?”

Ratajczak, who currently serves as Regents Professor Emeritus of Economics at Georgia State University, is one of the leading econometric forecasters in the country. He previously served as Director of the Economic Forecasting Center in the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University from 1973 until June 2000.
“The U.S. is in a very interesting area right now,” Ratajczak said. “With it being an election year and continued problems with Iraq, it will be interesting to see how the U.S. economy bounces off of that. We are still not getting nearly enough oil from Iraq and there are still problems in Liberia like last year; yes, the economy will go down a little and then bounce right back up.”
In 2000, Ratajczak founded Brainworks Ventures, Inc., a venture development company based in Atlanta, Ga., and served as its CEO and Chairman of the Board until it merged with Assurance America in April 2003. He is still on the board of the combined company and also serves on the board of directors of Ruby Tuesday, Inc., TBC Corporation, Regan Holdings, Crown Craft Corp. and Citizens Trust Bank.
“Overall, the event was planned to meet the informational and educational needs of all segments of the community. At the presentation for students, faculty, staff and also the general community, Dr. Ratajczak will give the same forecast, plus tailor his comments on issues that are of particular interest to students,” West said.
Ratajczak has developed econometric models for the United States, the Southeast and several individual states.
He also has a weekly column that appears in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, while being quoted in print and broadcast media, including: The New York Times, Journal of Commerce, Business Week, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Time, The Los Angeles Times, NBC and CNN.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 30 2004. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry