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Program -NABE's 50th Annual Meeting
Addressing Future Economic Challenges

The program for the meeting is still being finalized. This is the preliminary program as of 9/25/08

Saturday, October 4, 2008

1:00-4:30 PM OPTIONAL TOUR - SOLD OUT

4:30-5:00 PM NABE BUSINESS MEETING

Meet the new NABE board of directors and roundtable officers.  Learn what NABE has accomplished over the past year and help plan for the future.

5:00-6:30 PM NABE PRESIDENT’S WELCOME RECEPTION

Entertainment provided by Americans for the Arts.  The nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing arts in America, Americans for the Arts is dedicated to creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of art.

Sponsor: Americans for the Arts

7:00-9:00 PM DINNER HONORING NABE’S PAST PRESIDENTS

Please join us for a delightful dinner at the top of the distinguished National Press Club.  We’ll honor NABE’s leadership, hear from Jeffrey Sachs, and engage in lively discussions.  Sign up by August 31 to reserve your place.  See registration form.
Chris Varvares, NABE Vice President, introductions
Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, NABE President, presiding
Jeffrey Sachs, The Earth Institute at Columbia University

Sponsor: Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC
Sponsor: Medley Global Advisors

Sunday, October 5, 2008

9:30-10:30 AM SKILLS SESSION - Financial Engineering

Learn about complex financial instruments that are traded in the markets today—and some new and innovative products that are just emerging.
Kevin Kliesen, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, presiding
Erik Heitfield, Federal Reserve Board

10:45-11:45 AM SKILLS SESSION Professional Presence And Nonverbal Communication

Learn how to communicate your message more effectively with corporate management, policymakers, the media and your associates.  Kay will show you how to “package” your product, yourself, and make a great first impression.
Lynn Reaser, Bank of America, presiding
Kay Wortman, Kay Wortman, Inc.

12:00-1:30 PM LUNCHEON- Future Economic Challenges and their Solutions

Featured with Alan Greenspan and Robert Rubin on the cover of Time Magazine as the “committee to save the world,” Professor Summers gives us an update on his views of the major issues facing the 21st century and their potential answers. 
Sara Johnson, Global Insight, presiding
Lawrence Summers, Harvard University; Former U.S. Treasury Secretary

Sponsor:  Global Insight

1:45-3:15 PM Economic Policy Debate

Join us for the third debate between the economic advisers of the top presidential candidates hosted by NABE during this election season.
Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America, introductions
Steve Liesman, CNBC, and Judy Woodruff, The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer, moderators
Kevin Hassett, Adviser to Senator McCain
Gary Gensler , Adviser to Senator Obama

Sponsor: Associated General Contractors of America

3:15-3:45 PM NETWORKING BREAK

Sponsor:  Greenwood and Associates

3:45-4:45 PM CONCURRENT SESSIONS 1

A.  The Role of Free Trade in Controlling Health Care Costs

As the quality of health care in developing countries improves, the cost advantages of “medical tourism” are becoming more attractive to consumers and insurers alike. This session will explore how global competition might lead to more efficient delivery of medical care and even slow the rate of increase in healthcare costs by making the U.S. medical sector more competitive. 
Devon Herrick, National Center for Policy Analysis/HERT Chair, presiding
Michael Horowitz, Medical Insights International
Renee-Marie Stephano, Medical Tourism Association

Sponsor:  NABE Health Economics Roundtable

B.  “Peak Oil” and the Global Energy Challenge

As global energy demand continues to expand, growing concerns about oil scarcity are helping to drive prices to record highs. How high could oil prices go in coming years, and what effect could scarce supplies have on the 21st century global economy?  This session focuses on the economics of oil exploration and extraction and examines the contention that the “peak oil” point is now close at hand.
Howard K. Gruenspecht, U.S. Energy Information Administration, moderator
Guy F. Caruso, CSIS
Mark J. Finley, BP America, Inc.
Fareed Mohamedi, PFC Energy

Sponsor:  BP
Organized by the NABE Regional Utility Roundtable

C.  China and India: Challenges to their Growth

The rapid economic development of China and India -- the world’s two most populous nations with a combined 2.4 billion people -- has put them on the path to dominance in the 21st century global economy.  But with all of their promise and progress, there remain important challenges along this path.  Two leading experts on India and China will address the particular national characteristics and difficulties that will be faced by economic policymakers as they seek to sustain rapid growth going forward.
Stuart Mackintosh, The Group of Thirty, presiding
Kalpana Kochhar, International Monetary Fund
Wei Li, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia

Sponsor:  NABE International Roundtable

5:00-5:30 PM Perspectives on the Long-term Investment Climate

Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, Ford Motor Company, presiding
Abby Joseph Cohen
, Goldman Sachs

6:00-7:15 PM RECEPTION

Join us at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United States for a memorable networking event.

7:30-9:00 PM NABE Small Group Dinners - FULL

Take advantage of an opportunity to enjoy dinner and a stimulating conversation at one of Washington, DC’s leading restaurants in a small group setting.  You will be able to select from a number of different discussion topics each led by a NABE member.  As soon as plans for these dinners are finalized, we will send registration information to you.

Monday, October 6, 2008

7:00-7:45 AM CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

Sponsor: Swedbank and Wolters Kluwer

8:00-9:15 The New Dynamics OF Globalization

Learn how the forces of globalization are expected to shape the economy.
Sara B. Pottter, CFA, FactSet Research Systems, introductions
Catherine L. Mann, Brandeis University and Peterson Institute for International Economics, presiding
Edmund Phelps, Columbia University (Nobel Prize in Economics, 2006)
Paul Krugman, Princeton University

Sponsor: FactSet Research Systems

9:30-10:15 AM NABE Outlook

Find out about the latest thinking on the economy from NABE’s panel of macroeconomic forecasters during this presentation by NABE’s vice president.  He will also present the eighth annual NABE Outlook Award for the most accurate forecast.
Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, NABE President; Ford Motor Company, presiding
Chris Varvares, NABE Vice President; Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC

Sponsor: CNBC

10:15-10:45 AM NETWORKING BREAK

SPONSORS:  Haver Analytics and Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC

10:45-11:45 Lessons Of The Great Credit Crunch Of 2007-08

Financial market innovation in recent years has expanded access to credit while introducing a host of new and complex financial instruments and practices. These innovations lie at the heart of the credit market dislocations that began in mid-2007 and are now taking a toll on real U.S. economic activity. This session will discuss the causes of the crisis, short-term measures needed to address it, and the long-run implications of this historic event. Which critical assumptions have been disproved?  Which areas of the financial safety net need to be strengthened, and how?  Three pre-eminent experts on financial market innovation and the nature of financial crises will discuss these and other important questions.
Brian Sack, Macroeconomic Advisers, presiding
Robert H. Dugger
, Tudor Investment Corporation
Martin Neil Baily, The Brookings Institution
William Poole, Former President, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Sponsor: Morgan Le Fay Dreams Foundation
Organized by the NABE Financial Roundtable

12:00-1:30 PM Luncehon - The Future of Mortgage Finance

The Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation will discuss what long-term reforms will be needed in U.S. mortgage finance after the subprime debacle, focusing on both consumer protection and safety and soundness issues.
RIchard Brown, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, presiding
Sheila C. Bair, Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

1:45-2:45 CONCURRENT SESSIONS 2

A.  Human Capital

The panel will discuss whether today’s educational policies are adequately geared to developing the kind of labor force our nation needs in the future.  Where do we need to invest in human capital?  Immigration and offshoring play roles to the extent that some of the jobs require a global labor pool.  Learn what CEOs want for the 21st century labor force and how to train tomorrow’s workforce to adapt to a digital world and the skills that are needed in a conceptual workplace. 
Diane Swonk, Mesirow Financial, presiding
John Tarnaff, Dreamworks Animation
Linda Barrington, The Conference Board

Sponsor: Mesirow Financial

B.  Innovation and Its Measurement in the 21st Century

Knowledge, innovation, and technology—the products of research and development (R&D)— increasingly fuel growth in the global economy. The expectation is that this process will accelerate in the 21st Century, and that scientific developments will re-invent existing industries, produce new industries, and will propel further productivity gains. Session participants will outline some of the new products, technologies, and industries we might anticipate in the 21st century, discuss the efficiency of innovation itself, and consider methods and metrics for measuring innovation in the 21st century.
Sydney Smith Hicks, Chair, NABE Corporate Planning Roundtable, presiding
Christopher L. Magee, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Joseph Kennedy, Economic Statistics Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce

Sponsor:  NABE Technology and Corporate Planning Roundtables

C.  U.S. Manufacturing Renaissance

In 1958, U.S. manufacturing generated 25% of GDP and 25% of payrolls, many US manufacturers enjoyed comfortable oligopolies, and the sector was preeminent in the economy. But, after a series of oil price shocks, the rise of international competition from low-cost producers in Asia and elsewhere, and strong technological and organizational innovation, manufacturing now generates less than 12% of GDP and accounts for less than 10% of payroll employment. More recently, even as the forces of globalization have intensified with the rise of emerging economies, a surge in U.S. exports is giving rise to new optimism that a reinvented U.S. manufacturing industry may be poised for recovery.  This session will consider these trends and outline scenarios for the future of manufacturing in North America.
Thomas Kevin Swift, American Chemistry Council
James Meil, Eaton Corporation
David Heuther, National Association of Manufacturers
Martha Moore
, Moore Economics


Sponsor: American Chemistry Council
Organized by the NABE Manufacturing Roundtable

3:00-3:30 PM - NABE Presidential Address: Economic and Financial Climate Change: A Business Economist's Perspective

The NABE president will give the 50th annual presidential address.
Chris Varvares, NABE Vice President; Macroeconomic Advisers, presiding
Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, NABE President; Ford Motor Company

3:30-4:00 PM NETWORKING BREAK

Sponsor: CEIC Data

4:00-5:00 PM Long-Term Fiscal Outlook

How will we pay for the health and retirement benefits of baby boomers without bankrupting the nation?  The current path of policy is unsustainable given demographics.  The panel will discuss the possible solutions to this serious intergenerational problem.
David Wessel, The Wall Street Journal, presiding
Laurence Kotlikoff, Boston University
Rudolph Penner, The Urban Institute

Sponsor: Altarum

5:30-7:00 PM RECEPTION

The 75th anniversary of the FDIC coincides with NABE’s 50th.  Join in the anniversary celebration at the FDIC headquarters!

Sponsor:  Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

7:30-9:00 AM BREAKFAST - A View from the Administration

Hear the views from the chairman of President Bush’s top economic advisory group.
Lynn Reaser, Bank of America, introduction
Edward Lazear, Council of Economic Advisers

9:00-10:00 AM - Adam Smith Address

Michael Mussa, former economic counselor and director of research at the International Monetary Fund, will deliver NABE’s 27th annual Adam Smith Award lecture.  He is currently a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and served as a member of President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers.  He was a member of the faculty of the Graduate School of Business of the University of Chicago (1976-91) and was on the faculty of the Department of Economics at the University of Rochester (1971-76). During this period he also served as a visiting faculty member at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, the London School of Economics, and the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. His main areas of research are international economics, macroeconomics, monetary economics, and municipal finance. He has published widely in these fields in professional journals and research volumes. Other recipients of the Adam Smith Award have included Milton Friedman, James Tobin, Gary Becker, Douglass North, and George Stigler.
Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, NABE Presidnet; Ford Motor Company, presiding
Michael Mussa, Peterson Institute for International Economics

Sponsor: ISI Group

10:00-10:30 AM NETWORKING BREAK

Sponsor:  American Farm Bureau Federation

10:30-11:15 AM - Dating Business Cycles

The chair of the Business Cycle Dating Committee at the National Bureau of Economic Research will discuss how the NBER goes about determining business cycle peaks and troughs.
Lakshman Achuthan, Economic Cycle Research Institute, introduction
Harvey Rosenblum, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, presiding
Robert Hall, National Bureau of Economic Research; Stanford University

Sponsor: Economic Cycle Research Institute

11:30-12:15 PM - Challenges To The Global Economy

Our distinguished speaker will discuss current and future challenges to the global economy, such as the food-fuel debate, the risk of higher global inflation, aging populations, and financial stability.  Hear how global institutions like the IMF are poised to meet these challenges head on.
Gene Huang, FedEx Corporation, presiding
John Lipsky, First Deputy Managing Director, International Monetary Fund

Sponsor: FedEx Corporation

12:30-2:00 PM LUNCHEON - A View from the Federal Reserve

The chairman of the Federal Reserve will offer his views on the credit markets, the economy, and monetary policy.
Ellen Hughes Cromwick, NABE President, presiding
Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Board

Sponsor: Bank of America