Brian Wesbury is Chief Economist at First Trust Advisors L.P., a financial services firm based in Wheaton, Illinois and serves on the Board of Advisors to First Trust Capital Partners, an affiliated private-equity firm. A nationally regarded economics speaker, The Wall Street Journal ranked Mr. Wesbury the nation’s #1 U.S. economic forecaster in 2001 and USA Today ranked him as one of the nation’s top 10 forecasters in 2004.

   Mr. Wesbury writes frequently for the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal and is the Economics Editor of “The American Spectator.” He is also a frequent guest on Fox, Bloomberg , CNBC TV and BNN Canada TV.

   Mr. Wesbury is a member of the Academic Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and is also an adjunct professor of economics at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Additionally, he sits on the Board of Managers of Three-Sixty Advisory Group, a Pasadena, California based consulting and private-equity firm.

   Mr. Wesbury began his career in 1982 at the Harris Bank in Chicago. Former positions include Vice President and Economist for the Chicago Corporation and Senior Vice President and Chief Economist for Griffin, Kubik, Stephens, & Thompson. In 1995 and 1996, he served as Chief Economist for the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress.

   Mr. Wesbury received an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Montana. McGraw-Hill published his first book, The New Era of Wealth, in October 1999. He is currently working on a new book, scheduled to be published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons.

Topics:

1) Inflation, Deleveraging & Recession

   The unemployment rate is rising, the auto and housing markets are in a shambles. The government is bailing out banks, printing money with abandon and handing out billions in stimulus checks. But is the economy as bad as people think? Is a government rescue going to work? How long and deep will a recession be? Should we fear inflation or deflation? What about excess debt versus de-leveraging?

2) The New Era of Wealth: How Investors Can Profit from the 5 Economic Trends Shaping the Future