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Tom Campbell, Dean of UC-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, examines causes for the recent slowing down of the U.S. economy.

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The Annual Bank of America Walter E. Hoadley Economic Forecast with Tom Campbell.

As we enter 2008 with a volatile stock market and a real estate crisis, what’s essential to know about the economy for the year ahead? Former member of Congress and Haas Business School Dean Campbell helps us navigate uncertain economic waters in the annual forecast – The Commonwealth Club of California

Tom Campbell is the thirteenth dean of the Haas School of Business, a position he has held since August 2002. He formerly held positions of US Congressman, California State Senator, Stanford University law professor, and, recently, California’s Director of Finance.

In December 2004, Dean Campbell took a one-year leave of absence from the school after being appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be director of the California Department of Finance. He returned as dean of the Haas School in November 2005.

Prior to joining the Haas School in 2002, Dean Campbell was a law professor at Stanford University Law School for 19 years, beginning in 1983. He was elected five times to represent the Silicon Valley area of California in the United States Congress. Among his legislative achievements were authorship of the 1998 Food Bank Relief Act and the 2000 Peace Corps Reauthorization Act.

Campbell also was elected as a California state senator in 1993. During a two-year term, he earned ratings by the Sacramento-based “California Journal” as the most ethical state senator, the best overall senator and the state Senate’s best problem solver.

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President Bush is urging Congress to take action on bills that will help Americans get through this difficult economic time. Bush held a news conference earlier today at the White House, blasting Congress for not doing enough to address Americans’ financial fears. He asked Congress to focus on four areas: energy, food prices, mortgage payments and student loans. Bush also called for a fiscally responsible bill that would reform farm programs without putting new burdens on consumers.

Residents in southeast Virginia are facing a massive cleanup project today after three tornadoes ripped through the area. More than 200 people were injured, but there were no reports of any fatalities. The twisters destroyed homes and businesses. Virginia’s Governor Tim Kaine has declared a state-of-emergency in the state.

Senator Hillary Clinton is in North Carolina today to accept an endorsement from the state’s governor. Governor Mike Easley formally endorsed the Democratic presidential hopeful, saying it’s time for someone to be in the White House who understands the challenges we face in this country. The endorsement gives the New York Senator a symbolic boost in North Carolina where she’s trailing her rival, Senator Barack Obama, by double digits.

A new survey shows housing prices posted another record decline. Those prices fell a record 12.7 percent from a year earlier in the top 20 metropolitan areas around the country. Markets like Las Vegas, Miami and Phoenix saw prices plummet by at least 20 percent.

Thanks for watching today’s news update, and check out our feature stories and entertainment headlines on upi.com.

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Riding high in opinion polls, Obama was careful to include a sober essment of the economic emergency in his first speech to Congress, seeking to temper expectations that his administration’s rescue efforts would yield quick fixes.

But the politician whose memoir was called “The Audacity of Hope” and who won the White House in last November’s election amid chants of “yes, we can” was also back in stride, telling recession-weary Americans to expect better days ahead.

“While our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken, though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover,” Obama said in the televised speech.

“And the United States of America will emerge stronger than before,” he told a chamber packed with lawmakers, cabinet members and invited guests.

The Democratic president also leveled a barrage of indirect criticism at his Republican predecessor George W. Bush for the country’s economic plight and bloated debt, warning that the “day of reckoning” had arrived.

Five weeks after taking office, Obama pressed the case for his economic plans while laying out a broad agenda, including a much-anticipated push for a healthcare overhaul and energy independence, to help build momentum for his young presidency.

The primetime State of the Union-style address to a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives came against a backdrop of growing anxiety across the country in the face of the worst financial meltdown in decades.

While his public support is strong, Wall Street remains skeptical of his economic remedies.

Jittery investors sent U.S. stocks to a 12-year low on Monday, but the markets rallied on Tuesday on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s urances that the country’s troubled banks should be able to weather the downturn without being nationalized.

Trying to show he would make good on his promise of fiscal responsibility, Obama said he had identified $2 trillion in budget cuts over the next decade.

Obama, who rolls out his first budget proposal on Thursday, has vowed to halve the annual deficit by the end of his term.

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