RAHM? CAROL? DOES IT MATTER?

Replacing the mayor will play a big role in how Chicago's economy plays out in 2011, said the Federal Reserve's Rick Mattoon at a luncheon hosted by CoreNet on Thursday. With public financing in Illinois in poor shape, Chicago will have to rely on a benevolent dictator type mayor who can get things done, just as we've had the last 22 years, he adds. The good news? Illinois has bridged the gapbetween its unemployment and the rest of the country; now we're doing just as bad, at 9%, but not worse.

The Fed's William Strauss points out that two-thirds of the US GDPis based on consumers. He predicts 3.3% GDP growth this year, and another 3.2% in 2012. William says housing has bottomed, but it may be one more year before commercial real estate is back to regular levels. He's optimistic about manufacturing, with moreforeign car companies opening factories in the US. Energy costs, which account for about 5.5 cents out of every dollar spent in the US, will cause major pain if they increase, he says.

We snapped Astek's Andy Swindler and Tom Lynch before lunch. The tech company's building a new software app for apartment buildings to market their specific complexes to potential residents. They've already sold it to Presidio Apartments in Austin, Texas, and built a website for The Alter Group's 111 W. Illinois.