Economic Outlook Conference
Doug Ramsey
CFA
Leuthold Weeden Capital Management
Prior to joining the Leuthold team, Doug was Chief Investment Officer of Treis Capital in Des Moines, Iowa, where he managed equity portfolios and published a quantitative equity research product, The Behavioral Strategist.
At Leuthold, Doug contributes to the existing Leuthold research publications and is a member of the investment strategy committee. He has spent many years compiling option-based investor sentiment measures and is exploring ways in which these behavioral methods might complement the longer-term industry group selection strategy used in Leuthold equity portfolios.
Doug is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he majored in Economics and Business Administration. He also played four years of varsity basketball at Coe, earning Academic All-America honors in 1986-1987. He then earned an MA degree in Economics from Ohio State University in 1990. Doug earned his CFA designation in 1996 and became a Chartered Market Technician in 2003.
Charles W. Zempel
Principal
Zempel Strategic
Clare Zempel is a leading business economist and top investment strategist. He honed his smart, nimble approach to making sense of complex economic and financial issues over more than 30 years as an economist for major national firms. Through Zempel Strategic, Clare brings seasoned common sense to bear on these issues for corporate business clients and major investors. He specializes in customizing applied economics and financial market analysis to meet each client's unique needs. The Zempel practice involves preparing precise presentations and written reports that are relevant and clear. Clients use Clare's recommendations to plan and formulate policies. Client-centered services include project evaluation; budget input; risk assessment; and training sessions for employees, vendors and customers. Clare also speaks on broad economic and investment issues to wider audiences.
Prior to founding Zempel Strategic, Clare served as director of investment policy, chief investment strategist and chief economist for Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, and as chief economist for the First Wisconsin Corporation, now U.S. Bank. He holds degrees from the University of Chicago and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Donald A. Nichols, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Economical and Public Affairs
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Donald Nichols is professor emeritus of Economics and Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He served as director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs from 2002 to 2006. His research is in the areas of macroeconomic theory and policy and regional economic policy. Don’s work has appeared in the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy and Review of Economics and Statistics. His most recent contribution is a new definition of an export base for a regional economy, which appeared in International Regional Science Review.
Professor Nichols received his doctorate in economics from Yale University. He is an award-winning teacher and has played a prominent role in public affairs, both nationally and in Wisconsin. He served on the staffs of the Council of Economic Advisors to the U.S. President in 1963 and the U.S. Senate Budget Committee in 1975 and 1976. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor from 1977 to 1979 and Economic Advisor to the Governor of Wisconsin from 1983 to 1986. He serves on Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle’s Economic Advisory Council and on the board of Thompson Plumb Funds.
Don is a prolific writer and nationally recognized speaker, well known for his consistent record of accurate forecasting at Economic Outlook seminars. For more than 30 years, Don has focused his research, teaching and publications on those factors affecting unemployment, inflation and regional economic growth.