On January 17, 2012, the British American Business Council and Squire Sanders co-hosted the 22nd Annual Economic Forecast Luncheon. This well attended event was held at the historic City Club of San Francisco.

Guest speaker Brian Fabbri, Founder of Fabbri Global Economics (FGE) outlined his global economic predictions for the year of the Dragon. Mr. Fabbri predicted that the US will avoid recession but the EU will not be as lucky. Many EU countries are currently in recession and others will soon follow. Asian economies will continue to grow, albeit at a slower rate than recent years. Mr. Fabbri also drew attention to the increased division between the haves and have-nots which is resulting in elevated social, political and economic tensions throughout the western economies.

Sean Randolph, President and CEO of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute discussed the strengths of the Bay Area economy, where the economic outlook is better than for most of the rest of California and the US – the Bay Area is the 4th largest exporting region in the nation and has the highest number of patents per capita. It is also home to a high concentration of global 500 companies. The Bay Area’s recent GDP growth has been led by computer manufacturing, information and professional services.

All in all a very interesting and successful event.

Nicholas Unkovic – Squire Saunders