and scott andersen, e.a.c. chair and chief economist for bank of the west.lso in attendance is bob davis, a.b.a.'s executive vice president of mortgage market policy, and once a bank economist himself at harris bank. after our chairman delivers today's forecast, there will be a question and answer session. if you ask a question, we ask that you please state your name, the name of your publication. so without further ado i'll hand it over to scott andersen to get things started. >> thank you. good morning, everybody. thank you all for coming this morning. well, after meeting yesterday and today, to discuss the u.s. economic outlook, it's the view of our committee that after slower growth in the second and third quarter of this year, u.s. economic growth will accelerate to 2.8% growth in the first half of 2014. the combination of a recovering housing market, resilient consumer spending, less fiscal drag, and a pickup in the global economy will be the catalysts for a faster u.s. economic growth rate. the housing market will be important part of the story. the e

and scott andersen, e.a.c. chair and chief economist for bank of the west.also in attendance is bob davis, a.b.a.'s executive vice president of mortgage market policy, and once a bank economist himself at harris bank. after our chairman delivers today's forecast, there will be a question and answer session. if you ask a question, we ask that you please state your name, the name of your publication. so without further ado i'll hand it over to scott andersen to get things started. >> thank you. good morning, everybody. thank you all for coming this morning. well, after meeting yesterday and today, to discuss the u.s. economic outlook, it's the view of our committee that after slower growth in the second and third quarter of this year, u.s. economic growth will accelerate to 2.8% growth in the first half of 2014. the combination of a recovering housing market, resilient consumer spending, less fiscal drag, and a pickup in the global economy will be the catalysts for a faster u.s. economic growth rate. the housing market will be important part of the story. the