David Wyss, Standard & Poor's chief economist.(Newsmaker)(Interview)

It's a safe bet that even the most passive observer of the financial markets knows David Wyss. As New York-based Standard & Poor's (S & P's) chief economist, Wyss is responsible for S & P's economic forecasts and publications. He also coauthors the monthly Equity Insight and the weekly Financial Notes.

Wyss joined Data Resources Inc. (DRI), Lexington, Massachusetts, in 1979 as an economist in the European Economic Service in London, which was acquired by The McGraw-Hill Companies, New York. He came back to the United States in 1983 as chief financial economist for DRI/McGraw-Hill, became chief economist for Standard & Poor's DRI in 1992, and chief economist for Standard & Poor's in 1999.

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Before joining DRI, Wyss was a senior staff economist with the President's Council of Economic Advisers during the Jimmy Carter administration, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Board and an economic adviser to the Bank of England.

Wyss holds a bachelor of science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a doctorate in economics from Harvard University--both in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Wyss is on the board of the National Association for Business Economics, Washington, D.C.

Mortgage Banking recently interviewed Wyss about the outlook for the housing market in 2007, and other economic trends.

Q: Regarding the 2007 outlook: Many forecasters have been calling for a "soft" landing for the overall economy. Can you talk about whether or not you are in the soft-landing camp while summarizing your outlook for the overall economy and for the housing market?

A: We expect the economy to slow down, mainly because of the problems in the housing market. Overall there's still enough strength in the economy to prevent this from turning into …