On Tuesday, January 31, CARW and REDIComps welcomed Moody’s economist Thomas P LaSalvia, Ph.D. to speak at the annual Economic and Commercial Real Estate Outlook. He focused on macroeconomic issues driving the economy and their impact on various sectors of commercial real estate both nationally and in Wisconsin. A few key takeaways involved labor and demographic shifts as well as changing consumer behavior and space utilization. His insights were surprisingly optimistic compared to other economists. Moody’s looks at a number of standard and unique indicators that reveal the market’s resilience and the long-term stability commercial real estate continues to provide for investors. Thomas’ research within commercial real estate broadly includes space and capital market performance across multiple sectors, but Thomas’s keen interest and expertise lies within the subdiscipline of optimal location theory. In addition to presenting his findings to a variety of clients and organizations, his insights are frequently published in leading industry and wider-audience periodicals including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Newsweek, Scotsman Guide, and Commercial Observer. Prior to joining Moody's Analytics, Dr. LaSalvia was an industry consultant while also serving as a Lecturer of Economics at The College of William & Mary.