Michael Walden, Ph.D.

Wm Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor, North Carolina State University

Dr. Michael L. Walden is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor and Extension Economist at North Carolina State University and a member of the Graduate Economics faculty with The Poole College of Management. His Ph.D. degree is from Cornell University and he has been at N.C. State since 1978. He has also been a Visiting Professor at Duke University.

Dr. Walden has teaching, research, and extension responsibilities at NCSU in the areas of consumer economics, economic outlook, and public policy. He has published eight books and over 250 articles and reports, including the book North Carolina in the Connected Age, published by the UNC Press. He has served on several local and state level commissions. With his wife, he is the co-author of three "economic thrillers", Macro Mayhem, Micro Mischief, and Fiscal Fiasco, designed to teach economics in an entertaining way.

Dr. Walden can be frequently seen, heard, and read in the media. He has daily radio programs aired on stations around North Carolina for which he has won two national awards. He is often interviewed on local TV and radio news broadcasts, has appeared on NBC, CBS, The Fox Report, and the Newshour With Jim Lehrer, and is frequently quoted in such newspapers as USA Today, The News and Observer, The Charlotte Observer, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. His biweekly column, You Decide, is carried by over forty newspapers in the state. He has made over 2500 personal presentations.

Dr. Walden directs the semiannual economic forecast, The North Carolina Economic Outlook. He has won numerous academic and public awards, including two Champion-Tuck Awards for Excellence in Broadcasting, the UNC Board of Governor's Award for Excellence in Public Service in 2010, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 2013, and the Holladay Medal for Excellence from North Carolina State University in 2014.

His new book, North Carolina Beyond the Connected Age: The Tar Heel State in 2050, will be published by the University of North Carolina Press in October.

Economic Outlook: Are We Stuck With Slow Growth?

Walden will highlight current trends in the national and North Carolina economies, including growth, the job market, inflation and interest rates, international trade, and the Trump Administration's economic agenda. Prospects for future growth will be emphasized, as will emerging technological "disrupters" to both the production and employment markets.