John Silvia is a Managing Director and the Chief Economist for Wells Fargo. Based in Charlotte, N.C., he has held his position since he joined Wachovia, a Wells Fargo predecessor, in 2002 as the company’s Chief Economist. Prior to his current position, John worked on Capitol Hill as Senior Economist for the U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee and Chief Economist for the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Before that, he was Chief Economist of Kemper Funds and Managing Director of Scudder Kemper Investments, Inc.
John currently serves as the President of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) and was awarded a NABE Fellow Certificate of Recognition in 2011 for outstanding contributions to the Business Economics Profession and Leadership Among Business Economists to the Nation. For the second time in three years, he was awarded the best overall forecast by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, as well as the best unemployment rate forecast for 2011. John is on the Bloomberg Best Forecast list for his forecasts of GDP, the ISM manufacturing index, housing starts and the unemployment rate.
John holds B.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from Northeastern University in Boston and has a master’s degree in economics from Brown University. John’s first book, Dynamic Economic Decision Making, was published by Wiley in August, 2011. His second book, Economic & Business Forecasting, was published in 2014, also by Wiley. John serves as a member of the Blue Chip Panel of Economic Forecasters and also serves on an informal advisory group for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. He served as Chair for the Economic Advisory Committee of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Economic Advisory Roundtable. John also serves on the finance committee for the Mint Museum in Charlotte. John is past President of the Charlotte Economics Club. He has also served on economic advisory committees to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the Public Securities Association.
A strong supporter of education and civic affairs, John serves as a member of the Business Advisory Council at the Walker College of Business at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., and on the President’s Council for Charlotte’s Central Piedmont Community College. He has previously served as a board member of the British American Business Council of North Carolina and served on the Economic Development Board for the State of North Carolina, a special appointment by the Governor. He also served on the Business Advisory Committee for the City of Charlotte.
