Steven Banks, Ph.D.

Chief Economist

A longtime resident of Southern California, Dr. Steven Banks joined LAEDC as the Chief Economist in December of 2017. His experience in spatial analysis, demographics, and predictive and policy analyses help inform LAEDC’s programmatic work and provide the region with intelligence on the trends impacting the Greater Los Angeles economy, its industries and jobs. His experience developing proprietary models to enhance accuracy of economic, sector and industry forecasts support LAEDC’s role as the region’s leader on economic strategy, economic forecasts and industry outlooks.

From his diverse industry and academic experience, Dr. Banks has analytical perspectives on: Southern California’s advanced transportation industry, including electric and autonomous vehicles; the entertainment industry; the heavy machinery and construction industries; international markets; the financial sector; real estate; natural resources; and other key industry clusters in the region.

He has served in senior leadership roles providing economic forecasting and analysis at Warner Bros., Trust Company of the West, General Motors, and Caterpillar. Immediately prior to joining LAEDC, Dr. Banks served as Director of Forecasting and Analytics at Integral Economics, providing CEOs, CFOs and Boards of Directors at various clients with analysis of industry trends and economic and business risks. Dr. Banks has also served on the faculties of Texas A&M, Illinois State and Pepperdine universities.

Dr. Banks has travelled extensively in Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and brings a strong regional perspective to his work. He is a member of numerous professional and academic honor societies, and the recipient of various scholarships and awards. He is also bilingual (English/Spanish). Dr. Banks received his Ph.D. and Master of Arts (MA) degrees in Spatial/Regional Economics from The Ohio State University-Columbus, and a Master of Science (MS) and Bachelor of Science (BS) with Honors in Development Economics from University of Illinois-Urbana.