Signs of recovery abound. The question troubling economists and politicians facing the 2004 elections is: Will the economy and job market improve fast enough to prevent consumers from tightening their purse strings?
GDP grew by an 8.2% annual rate in the third quarter of 2003, the fastest in nearly two decades. Growth in the Q4 is expected to register 4.5%. Defense spending and solid consumption have more than offset the trade deficit's persistent drag. Renewed business confidence and improved business investment will lift 2004 growth to 4% or 5%. In addition, the longest stretch of joblessness since WW II is over, thanks to the combination of a profit recovery and the resumption of business investment.
Manufacturing, which now appears to be moving off a cyclical bottom, will at least stop acting as a brake on growth. Firms have purged most of the excesses that resulted from the investment binge of the 1990s. With inventories at extremely low levels, high productivity rates indicate work forces are lean, and at least some pent-up capital investment demand can be expected after a two-year corporate spending freeze. The slimmed-down companies that have emerged posted four straight quarters of rising profitability, which, coupled with the need to shore up inventories, will lead to more production and employment.
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Hessam Nadji
Hessam Nadji is president and chief executive officer of Marcus & Millichap, a leading commercial real estate firm specializing in investment sales, financing, research and advisory services. Founded in 1971, Marcus & Millichap has grown to more than 1,700 investment sales and financing professionals with offices throughout the United States and Canada. In 2016, the firm completed 8,995 transactions with a sales volume of over $42 billion. Mr. Nadji joined Marcus & Millichap in 1996 as vice president of research and advisory services and positioned the firm as a leading provider of market trends, analyses and expertise. Over the years, his role expanded to include marketing and strategy, enabling him to play a key role in establishing and growing Marcus & Millichap’s national brand. In 2010, Mr. Nadji assumed the leadership role for all of the firm’s national specialty brokerage divisions, which grew rapidly under his supervision. Marcus & Millichap’s specialty divisions function as client service teams of specialists with in-depth expertise in 12 real estate segments and achieved sales of $21.5 billion in 2015. Mr. Nadji also played a leading role in the preparation and execution of the firm’s IPO in 2013 as Marcus & Millichap’s chief strategy officer. He was named president and CEO in April 2016. Mr. Nadji is frequently sourced on behalf of the firm by national business media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, Real Estate Forum, CNBC, Fox Business TV, Bloomberg TV, and numerous commercial real estate publications. Prior to joining Marcus & Millichap, Mr. Nadji was senior vice president at Grubb & Ellis, where he began his career in 1986. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in information management and computer science from City University in Seattle. Mr. Nadji is a member of the National Multi Housing Council executive committee, the Urban Land Institute, the International Council of Shopping Centers and NAIOP.
