James Smith

 Dr. James F. Smith is a professor of the Practice in the Institute for the Economy and the Future at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C. He is also a research professor in its business school. He became the first chief economist for Parsec Financial Management in Asheville, NC on February 1, 2006. Parsec Financial provides comprehensive financial services for individuals that include insurance, income tax, retirement and estate planning as well as investment counsel. He also writes “Outlook,” a subscription-only, quarterly economic analysis of the world, national and North Carolina economies.

Smith was a professor of finance at the Kenan-Flagler Business School from July 1988-2006. From July 2002 to January 2006, he was chief economist for the Society of Industrial and Office REALTORS® (SIOR). He served as the society’s spokesperson on economic forecasts, interest rates, and other economic issues and trends important to the commercial real estate industry in the U.S. and around the world. From February 1999 to March 2000 he served as Chief Economist of the National Association of REALTORS® in Washington, DC. In that position, he oversaw a professional research staff and was widely quoted in the global media.

Smith has over 30 years of experience as an economic forecaster. He serves on the Bloomberg, Business Week and Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia forecasting panels, participates in the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) and USA Today quarterly surveys of forecasters and the Wall Street Journal monthly and semiannual economic outlook surveys, and is a member of the Forecasters Club of New York outlook panel.

Smith is active in the National Association for Business Economics and the European Council of Economists; is an NABE fellow; and earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees, all in economics, at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.