John Silvia

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 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 was awarded a National Association of Business Economics (NABE) Fellow Certificate of Recognition in 2011 for outstanding contributions to the business economics profession and leadership among business economists of the Nation. In 2010, he was recognized for the Best Inflation Forecast, the Best Overall Forecast and the Best Personal Consumption Expenditures Forecast by The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. John was named one of the Top 10 forecasters for the last four years by Bloomberg News in 2009 and the No. 2 forecaster by USA Today for 2008.

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 book Dynamic Economic Decision Making was published by Wiley in August, 2011.

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 serves as chair for the Economic Advisory Committee of both the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Economic Advisory Roundtable and the American Bankers Association.

John was formerly a director of NABE and was former 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.