MON AM News: Expert predicts ‘much less volatility’ in the economy next year; Evers’ PSC picks approve bigger utility rate increases, smaller profit margins than Walker’s

December 15, 2025

— A financial expert predicts “much less volatility” standing in the way of economic growth next year.

Brad Tank, a UW-Madison grad, made the prediction during a recent Wisconsin Alumni Association webinar. He holds a senior advisory role with Neuberger Burman, a New York investment management firm with more than $500 billion in assets under management. During the recent UW Now discussion, he shared insights on this year’s economic trends as well as what’s expected for 2026.

He noted 2025 was a solid year for economic activity with “terrific returns” in the stock market despite the economic uncertainty driven in part by U.S. trade policy.

But Tank said next year’s outlook is even better.

“While we’ve had a lot of policy activity from the current administration, typically, and we would expect this next year, [the] second year of a new administration brings reduced policy volatility and more policy certainty,” he said. “We generally feel that a lot of the noise and impact of the new tariffs regime will be behind us, and we’re looking forward to higher growth.”

Still, he pointed to some lingering uncertainty about tariffs, labor markets and inflation. Tank also noted some of the forecasted impacts of tariffs on inflation “really haven’t materialized” in the market.

“For a variety of reasons, the cost or impact of the tariffs really haven’t been passed through to final prices; we’ve seen a bit of an impact. As we move into next year, the impact should again diminish,” he said, though he added “we’re not returning to the below 2% price inflation that we experienced for a long, long time anytime soon.”

Meanwhile, the labor market has turned out to be weaker than initially estimated, with revisions to national estimates taking away about a million and a half jobs, “which is not insignificant,” Tank said. The more accurate labor market figures show job growth has diminished, he noted, referencing fears about the possible impact of AI.

“It doesn’t seem to be, it’s too early,” he said, pointing instead to ripple effects from businesses in the post-pandemic era “hoarding” labor amid worries about not having enough workers.

“Businesses were very aggressive on the hiring front and they were very cautious on the firing front,” he said. “At the same time, workers were loath to leave their jobs and had less mobility. So labor markets were a bit seized up … I think we’re seeing some relief there.”

Watch the video.

— Gov. Tony Evers’ picks for the Public Service Commission have approved $2.2 billion in utility rate increases since becoming a majority on the body, more than seven times what former Gov. Scott Walker’s nominees did over a similar period, according to a WisPolitics review.

But they’ve also approved a slightly smaller return on equity — or profit — for utilities than the Walker picks in those rate cases.

The utility rate increases, expected to be an issue in next year’s race to select Evers’ successor, have been influenced by many factors, some outside of the commission’s control. Among the many issues: inflation and the price of natural gas.

The increases also are the result of an energy infrastructure building boom that’s been years in the making — and shows no signs of abating with a string of data centers planned for Wisconsin.

Tom Content, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board, said a string of factors have “coalesced to make affordability a real challenge” in Wisconsin, including cost overruns on projects, supply chain issues and rising costs of steel, for example.

Content, whose group advocates for consumers in rate cases before the PSC, said CUB is now turning its attention to cases coming before the regulatory body that would power planned data centers. Those behind the projects have vowed the companies will pick up the cost for the needed energy generation increase without passing it onto consumers.

“The whole talk of the state is energy affordability, and data centers are coalescing into this real monster challenge for Wisconsin right now,” Content said.

See the full story in the WisPolitics Friday Report.

— The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce is taking over the work of the Madison Region Economic Partnership to better align economic development efforts and capitalize on regional momentum.

That’s according to Chamber President Zach Brandon, who discussed the change Friday in an interview.

He noted MadREP will cease to exist at the end of the year, but the economic development efforts it’s been leading will carry on through the chamber. MadREP was originally created by the chamber, and at one point shared leadership and a physical location.

“In many ways, this is putting back together pieces that were together before … It takes our work around policy development and economic promotion and talent recruitment, which is a thing that we do and do well, and it couples that with the things that you would consider more traditional economic development,” he said.

That includes site selection services, media tours, business retention and expansion efforts, surveys and more.

“We do data well at the chamber, so coupling data analysis and data comprehension with that kind of boots-on-the-ground strategy that MadREP has had, will be an accelerant,” Brandon said.

The decision to fold this work into the chamber’s structure comes as the region is expected to add as many as 350,000 more residents within the next 25 years.

“That is atypical for the Midwest in general, and certainly an opportunity for the whole state of Wisconsin, but specifically this region has a lot of work to do to make sure that we are responding to that opportunity in a way that doesn’t make it a risk,” he said.

Brandon says the most successful regional economic development models are defined by the alignment of traditional economic development activities with promotional efforts. He pointed to the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce and its Milwaukee 7 Partnership, or M7, as “one of the best models, if not the perfect model” to reproduce in the Madison region.

“If you’re looking for a ‘why,’ and a ‘what is it,’ I would say that is the perfect place to go look, is emulating a very successful model 75 miles down the road,” he said.

See the release.

— DATCP has reported the first case of bird flu among Wisconsin dairy cattle, found in a Dodge County herd.

The agency on Sunday announced the case of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, a widespread disease that’s led to outbreaks among U.S. poultry and dairy cows, along with limited cases among humans.

Samples from the Dodge County herd were tested by the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and confirmed at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories, according to DATCP. The agency says the affected farm was quarantined and sick cattle were separated for treatment.

The CDC website on the disease says public health risk remains low.

See the release.

— A recent study from UW Health found using an automated AI scribe helped care providers cut down on documentation time while reducing burnout.

The health system on Friday announced the findings of research conducted with the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, published in the New England Journal of Medicine Artificial Intelligence.

It focused on the use of an “ambient” AI system, which can record, transcribe and analyze conversations with patients, creating notes that can be used in health records.

Dr. Joel Gordon, chief medical information officer for UW Health, says care providers have to dedicate a lot of time to documenting patient visits, including both what they hear from the patient and their own assessments.

“Ambient AI can draft notes securely in the background while the provider and patient interact directly,” Gordon said in a statement, adding it helps them “focus on diagnosis, treatment and bonding with the patient.”

The study included a randomized clinical trial from August 2024 to March 2025 with 66 doctors and advanced practice providers, who were grouped into three equal segments. Each participant was surveyed multiple times and monitored while using the technology and afterwards. Their wellbeing was assessed based on the Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index, a tool for measuring burnout.

Researchers found the ambient AI system was linked to a “clinically meaningful reduction” in burnout scores. And it reduced the time spent documenting by 30 minutes a day per provider while improving the accuracy of notes and more.

Since that trial, UW Health has expanded its use of ambient AI, with about 800 doctors and other providers now using the technology. Dr. Majid Afshar, associate professor of medicine for the UW SMPH, says patients, physicians and APPs all “seem pretty happy with it.”

“We hope this work gives other health systems the tools and data they need to determine how they can use ambient AI successfully,” he said.

In addition to the study on the AI system’s impact, the research team published another scientific article providing a framework for other health systems to deploy and test this kind of technology. That “playbook” document is available online as an open-source guide.

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