S4E9: Rich Wobbekind and Brian Lewandowski - Colorado's Economic Landscape: Cooling Growth and Future Prospects

What implications do consumer business and confidence have on the future of economic growth? How does fear of the unknown come into play with tariffs taking effect, and how will that play into the Federal Reserve’s stance on interest rates?Richard Wobbekind is the Associate Dean for Business and Government Relations at Leeds School of Business, and Brian Lewandowski is the Executive Director of the Business Research Division at Leeds School of Business. In this episode, Maria talks with Richard and Brian about the current state of the economy. Despite the cooling of Colorado's economy after years of robust growth, there are reasons for cautious optimism. They discuss the impacts of national policy changes, tariffs, and inflation on both the U.S. and Colorado locally. Colorado has seen slower growth in key economic metrics and migration rates, impacting sectors like housing and job market dynamics. Nevertheless, resilience in job growth, positive wage trends, and new business formations show bright spots. This conversation was recorded on June 12, 2025 and does not reflect any economic news or developments since that date.Leeds Business Insights Podcast is a production of Leeds School of Business and is produced by University FM.EPISODE QUOTES:On Colorado’s current economic conditions predictions28:18: [Richard Wobbekind] We're not in a recession, and we don't think we're going into a recession. We do think a slow growth environment is very likely, but it's a growth environment. When expectations shape the economy16:41: [Brian Lewandowski] I think I am cautiously optimistic. I don't think things are all rosy. I think there's many risks that we're keeping an eye on in the economy right now. And personally, I think there are more risks to the downside right now, especially when we think about Colorado. We have some unique exposures to some of the changes happening right now. We may not be as exposed to the tariffs, but I think we are perhaps more exposed in Colorado to the federal restructuring. We have a high concentration of federal labs in Colorado. We have federal space and defense institutions and Colorado that are perhaps at risk. And then our universities receive a lot of federal funding for early-stage research that is also at risk right now. So, I think there certainly are downside risks that we need to be keenly aware of.Why do tariffs matter?07:19: [Richard Wobbekind] When we think about them from, sort of, broad macro policy, tariffs impact the supply side of the economy. They raise the cost of production in the economy. And supply-side inflationary types of issues that tariffs would fall into are very difficult to address with policy. Looking at Colorado’s slower population growth as a general concern06:17: [Brian Lewandowski] Colorado is a state that, for most of its statehood, has had positive net in migration, meaning that more people are moving to the state than moving away from the state. It's rare for Colorado to have net out migration, but for the past few years, we've had very slow migration to the state.And that's important. And it's a concern because many of those people who are coming to Colorado from other states or even other countries are already trained…[06:56] So, it ended up filling the vacant jobs that we had in the state and fueling a lot of the growth that we've had in Colorado. So, we look at Colorado's slower population growth and slower net migration as a general concern.SHOW LINKS:Richard Wobbekind | LinkedInRichard Wobbekind Leeds School of Business ProfileBrian Lewandowski | LinkedInBrian Lweandowski | Leeds School of Business ProfileColorado’s economic forecast for 2025