Dr. Raymond Jallow is an internationally recognized economic forecaster, financial expert, investment advisor and business executive. He is the chairman of Jallow International Ltd. (JIL) of Los Angeles. Prior to starting his own firm, Dr. Jallow was the senior vice-president and chief economist of First Interstate Bank of California and its holding company, First Interstate Bancorp. For more than 15 years, Dr. Jallow successfully guided the bank's investments and money management strategies to become one of the most profitable banks in the U.S. The bank is the eighth largest financial institution in America.

Jallow International is involved in investment and capital management in the U.S. and various international markets. These activities include equity investment and corporate finance of emerging companies. The firm provides economic and financial advisory services to corporations and financial institutions in the U.S. and European capitols. JU is also active in corporate management including mergers, acquisitions. Dr. Jallow is an internationally respected business economist and is called upon to comment on television networks, and has been interviewed by national publications including: Time, Newsweek, Business Week, Fortune, and U.S. News & World Report. He travels extensively and maintains frequent contacts with political and financial leaders in many parts of the world. Through his lecturing and writings, he has a large following in the business and the financial community throughout the United States, Europe, the Far East and the Middle East. Dr. Jallow authored numerous articles and reports on economic, finance and international developments.

Dr. Jallow served on the Economic Committee of the American Bankers Association and was the founder and the first president of the National Association of Business Economists, Los Angeles chapter. He was selected as one of the five most successful Arab-Americans in the U.S. who were featured in a documentary film shown in twenty Arab countries.

In the past 15 years. Dr. Jallow served on several educational and philanthropic organizations including the Board of Trustees of California Lutheran University, the Board of Directors of the U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce (Pacific) Inc., the Board of Advisors of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, the Center for Future Research at the University of Southern California, the Center for the partially sighted and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Los Angeles-Giza sister city Organization. Currently, Dr. Jallow is member of the Board of Directors of the Seaver Institute, AMIDEAST, a member of the Advisory Board of Arab American National Museum and Chairman of U.S. OMEN Trust.

Dr. Jallow was born in Baghdad, Iraq, and received a Bachelor's Degree in business economics from the University of Baghdad. He received a Master's Degree in business administration from the University of Southern California, and earned a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in business economics from UCLA. He has also served as a member of the faculty of the UCLA Extension Division.

Shems: What drew you to the world of economic forecasting?

I joined California Bank at an entry level while I was a Ph.D. Candidate at UCLA. The Bank had a suitable routine job for me to do but I used to do that quickly and became bored. My Ph.D. program was extremely extensive with six majors including accounting, statistics, quantitative methods, finance, management and business economics plus two foreign languages. With that educational background, in addition to my job, I volunteered to make quarterly and annual forecasts of the major activities of the Bank including deposits, loans, income, expenses and net profit. Bank executives were pleased with the close accuracy of my forecasts compared with actual results. That forecast became a very important and valuable tool for Bank management. Gradually, we added forecasts for the state of California, the U.S. economy, money markets and interest rates, industries, world trade and major countries of the world.

It is very rewarding and exciting when your peers of economists congratulate you on the fine production of such a comprehensive forecast presentations; when companies await the forecast to use it for their annual budget planning, when candidates for high national office are interested in what the forecast is predicting for the coming year, and when the press does an extensive coverage of the results of the forecast.

Shems: You worked your way up to be chief economist of one of the largest banks in the U.S. Can you tell us a little bit about that journey?

The two front wheels of that journey were hard work and not letting setbacks deter me from achieving my goal and reaching the peak. In addition to having the suited educational background I was fortunate and had the help and dedication of many men and women of all ages who assisted me in achieving success during that 20 year journey as an economist. And most importantly, the chairman of the board gave me the chance and his support to bypass the routine process and achieve the remarkable recognition for the Bank in the field of economic forecasting. The words "You put this bank on the map of the world" were strong motivation for me to drive even harder.

To cite an example, it took two months to produce the 100 pages of an annual forecast. I spent two months giving seminars attended by corporate executives and civic leaders in the top 40 U.S. cities. I traveled for 6 weeks presenting the forecast in the major capitals of Far East and South East Asian countries as well as the leading financial center of Western Europe. More than 50,000 executives attended these presentations every year.

The journey was not without rattles from time to time. I remember when many important people called the top management of the Bank complaining that my views favored the Arab Countries in the Middle East conflict. On another occasion, officials of the Japanese Government (where I lectured every January) complained to the Bank that I was too harsh on the trade issue between Japan and the U.S., creating many problems for Japan with the American Administration. On one of my Middle East trips, the bank chairman flew from Los Angeles to Abu Dhabi to find out why several Chief Executives of large corporations who are clients of the bank have complained about my speeches at seminars sponsored by Stanford Research Institute. I had criticized some companies selling oil rich Arab Countries outdated technologies instead of state of the art systems. The Bank and I gained the respect of the attendees as I stood by my position throughout the seven-day seminar. It was a tough ride.

Shems: What are your comments about the state of affairs in Iraq?

The most important factor in Iraq today is that Iraqis feel free after 35 years of dictatorship, repression, mass graves of dissidents, wars with neighbors and 14 years of unmerciful sanctions. However, the facts on the ground in recent weeks so far as security is concerned have been difficult for the Iraqis, for their interim government and for the foreign forces in Iraq. The Interim Iraqi Government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi is using all of its power to deal with the issue of security through negotiations with former regime officials, meeting with tribal and religious leaders and police and military actions when necessary.

If the Interim Government succeeds in bringing back security and tranquility in the major cities of Iraq, then the country will be on its way to a bright future. Most importantly, the Iraqi people will enjoy freedom of various types, economic prosperity, acceptance in the international community, and Iraq will regain its important position in the world community in general and in the Middle East region in particular.

Shems: Your advise to young Arab Americans?

My advice to young Arab Americans can be summoned up in three phrases: EDUCATION, GOOD EDUCATION AND THE HIGHEST EDUCATION NECESSARY.

For a youth graduating from high school it is hard to fight the temptation to get a job, to make some money, to buy a car and to have good time. Such an action is the worst decision a young person can take in his or her entire life. Education and higher education will open so many wonderful opportunities for the individual that are very rarely experienced by those without education, such as: higher standing in the community, greater appreciation by friends and relatives, more job opportunities, faster job promotion, and much, much higher pay and greater wealth accumulation. An 18 year old youth taking a job after high school earning about $15,000 and receiving 5% annual raises will earn approximately $283,000 at the age of 65. A 22 year old college graduate's annual income (with 4 years less work) at the age of 65 will be around $615,000. A 26 years old Ph.D.'s annual income (with 8 years less work) at the age of 65 will be more than $750,000.

What is more promising is the accumulation of wealth which will be 10 times more for the college graduate and is likely to be 15 times the wealth accumulated by the high school graduate without a college degree. Arab American youth must also participate in and contribute to their culture and their heritage. It is their duty. It will give them pride and a good feeling of accomplishment. On a personal note, do not allow any obstacle detract you from your goal or dream. Do not let a "No" answer be the final arbitrator for what you seek. Try, try, try again and you will succeed. I did at many crossroads.