The million-dollar question under scrutiny during the 2025 South County Economic Summit was: What is the current state of the U.S. economy? On Monday, May 12, community members gathered at The Granada Theatre in downtown Santa Barbara to hear up-to-date analysis and commentary on the region’s ongoing and unprecedented economic changes, with most of the conversations centered around the effects and impacts of President Trump's rollout and reversals of tariffs.
UC Santa Barbara Chancellor Henry Yang opened the evening by thanking Peter Rupert, Director of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project and professor of economics, for his longstanding commitment to the project, which has been a hub of innovation and insight into economic and business trends for the past 44 years. Following Chancellor Yang’s remarks, the event featured presentations from four speakers: George Alessandria, a professor of economics at the University of Rochester; Jim Bullard, a professor of economics at Purdue University; and Lee Ohanian, a professor of economics at UCLA. The evening concluded with closing thoughts from Peter Rupert.
With most conversations centered around tariffs, the audience was engaged. Alessandria looked at the economy holistically, reminding the audience that while uncertainty may be in the future, the country has faced moments of economic worry before. He noted that if the goal of tariffs is to grow capital, they simply won’t work. But, he acknowledged that tariffs could have positive effects if the government could link them to tax reform.