Small Group Dinners at the Annual Meeting
The small group dinners present a worthwhile opportunity to meet other NABE members and discuss important, hot issues of the day. Seventeen dinner groups are planned, and this is how they will work.
- Each group will have a NABE discussion leader, a Boston host, and an assigned restaurant.
- All participants will pay for their own meals, drinks, tip, etc.
- The dinners will take place after the Monday evening reception at the Boston Marriott Copley Place Hotel and are scheduled from 7:30-9:30 PM. Dinner groups gather at the reception. Look for the sign for your dinner group.
- In the interest of facilitating group discussion, the dinner group sizes are capped at ten (including hosts).
Below is a list of topics and discussion leaders. Indicate your top three choices by writing “1,” “2,” or “3” in the spaces before the dinner topics. NABE will assign everyone to a dinner group on a first-come, first-served basis. Please send your response by August 14.
| Discussion Topic | Discussion Leader | |
| 1 | Alternative energy sources | Yorgos Papatheodorou, CH2M HILL |
| 2 | Challenges facing the manufacturing sector | Jim Meil, Eaton Corporation |
| 3 | China, India, and the rest of emerging Asia | Gene Huang, FedEx Corporation |
| 4 | Entrepreneurship and managing your small business | Bruce Kratofil, BJK Research |
| 5 | Federal Reserve (communications, policy, and other issues) | David Wyss, Standard & Poor’s, and Brian Horrigan, Loomis Sayles |
| 6 | Forecasting models and alternative techniques (what now works?) | Chris Swann, Bureau of Economic Analysis |
| 7 | Global imbalances, the dollar, and long-term interest rates | Catherine Mann, Institute for International Economics |
| 8 | Health insurance (how to cover the uninsured, etc.) | Bob Graboyes, Chair, NABE Health Economics Roundtable |
| 9 | Housing | Nigel Gault, Global Insight |
| 10 | How can economists help educate the public on important issues and policies? | Rosemary Marcuss, Bureau of Economic Analysis |
| 11 | Immigration | Rich Wobbekind, University of Colorado |
| 12 | Market economics vs. the rise in populist and authoritarian regimes | Jim Smith, Parsec Financial |
| 13 | Non-oil commodities | Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America |
| 14 | Oil, gas, and geopolitical risk | Nariman Behravesh and Brian Bethune, Global Insight |
| 15 | Outlook and issues facing the equity market | Warren Johnson, Johnson Portfolio Group |
| 16 | Political trends in the United States and their economic implications | Chris Varvares, Macroeconomic Advisers |
| 17 | The role of the economist— how to thrive and prosper amidst change, based on Alvin Toeffler’s Revolutionary Wealth | Kathleen Camilli, Camilli Economics |
Please mark your first, second, and third preferences
