2020 TRENDS IN CONSTRUCTION CONFERENCE
“THIS IS A HEALTHCARE CRISIS NOT AN ECONOMIC CRISIS” NOVEMBER 19
As a sign of the times, CFMA’s South Central Louisiana Chapter took their annual Trends in Construction Conference virtual this year and ABC of Louisiana was proud to serve again as an event sponsor. Each year through this conference, attendees get a firsthand look at the economic forecast for the year ahead. ABC Pelican Member Jay Montalbano, a partner at Hannis T. Bourgeois, kicked off the annual conference by welcoming attendees and introducing keynote speaker, Dr. Elliot Eisenberg. Dr. Eisenberg’s research has been featured in Bloomberg Businessweek, Bureau of National Affairs, Forbes and Fortune, so you can imagine his presentation covered a broad swath of topics, industries and factors.
to the virus and don’t tell us the entire story.” For example, consumers have dipped into savings to purchases vehicles and renovate their homes. “Consumer spending is still incomplete, and we are still seeing a mild decline in consumer confidence, obviously attributable to the virus,” explained Dr. Eisenberg.
As he began the presentation around the topic, “Understanding the Economic Forecast as it Relates to the Construction Industry,” Dr. Eisenberg was quick to point out “the economy is improving,” and that he was hopeful to “see some physical stimulus from Washington, D.C.” Attendees then took a trip down memory lane with an Econ 101 lesson: the components of GDP and why we must pay attention to each as our economy recovers: GDP=C[onsumption] + I[nvestment] + G[overnment Spending] + NX (exports-imports)
Speaking of the virus, Dr. Eisenberg said it is too soon to have the “wait for the virus” mindset. “We have a way to go, and we must keep in mind that our economy is still suffering from a pandemic.”
“Certain parts of the economy are performing remarkably well, not well, but remarkably well,” said Dr. Eisenberg. He explained that housing is performing the best out of all industries and that new home sales are “exploding.” Dr. Eisenberg went on to highlight other booming industries, including vehicle and retail: “We’ve made tremendous progress from where we were in April. Housing has done a tremendous job but it’s not going to improve anymore and will level off now…Vehicle purchases have rebounded as much as it can...Retail sales have done terrifically well.” As with most things in life, there is a catch to the industries currently booming: these data are all “contaminated from coronavirus. These three items are a behavioral response 9 abcpelican.org/newsletter
