Economist Sees Early Return of Growth

As part of a general session at the Western Regional Mortgage Brokers Conference in Las Vegas, a senior economist at the National Center for Policy Analysis spoke hopefully about a return of business expansion and volume increases in the near future.Barry Asmus pointed to good demographics and population growth as a positive factor for future industry health and well being. Currently, 75 million people in the United States are between the ages of 40 and 60, and there is a large number of people right below that age group as well, Mr. Asmus said. He compared this to the situation in Western Europe, where population is decreasing, and predicted that the U.S. population will grow by 60 million people in the next 25 years. He also maintained that there is no sign of inflation on the horizon, which he said is a good indicator that there will be an opportunity for business growth in the near future.