Jock O'Connell is an international business consultant and economic/political affairs writer who grew up on the coast of Maine and has lived in northern California since 1971. He is widely regarded as one of California's foremost authorities on world trade, global economic trends, and the internationalization of the Golden State's economy. He is the president of The ClarkStreetGroup, a consulting firm specializing in the analysis of economic and political developments affecting international business.

An informative as well as a provocative and entertaining speaker and a lively panel discussant, Jock O'Connell has addressed audiences around the world over the past twenty-five years. Among the more prominent organizations Mr. O'Connell has addressed are the Institute for USA and Canada Studies in Moscow, Japan's Keidanren, the Confederation of British Industry, the Foreign Trade Association of Southern California in Los Angeles, and the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco. He has also spoken at a number of international trade shows and symposia including the original East/West Trade Symposium in Linz, Austria in 1990, and UTEC '93, Europe's largest conference and trade show devoted to environmental technology held annually in Vienna. He also delivered the keynote address at a European Union symposium on small business development programs held in Oslo, Norway. On a more academic level, Mr. O'Connell has been a lecturer at both the University of California at Davis and at the California State University at Sacramento.

While often quoted in the media, Mr. O'Connell has himself written extensively on economic affairs, politics, international trade and foreign investment. Articles he has authored have appeared on the Op-Ed page of The New York Times along with the Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury-News, and San Francisco Chronicle. He has been a frequent contributor to the opinion pages of the Sacramento Bee, the leading daily newspaper in California's state capital. A compilation of Mr. O'Connell's writings on international trade, economics, and politics from 1988 through 1998 may be accessed by clicking on Essays.)

The son of a labor union official, Mr. O'Connell was born in 1947 in Portland, Maine. He received his A.B. in political science from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and later pursued doctoral studies in international relations at the University of California at Davis. He has also studied at the Institute of European Studies in Vienna and at the London School of Economics, where he was a Fulbright Scholar.

His standard fee for a speaking engagement is US$5,0000 per engagement, plus first class travel and lodging expenses. All requests, however, will be considered since Mr. O'Connell's decisions are not all driven by pure economics.

For further information and for dates of availability, email theclarkstreetgroup@email.com