Program
Tentative program as of February 18, 2008.
Monday, March 3, 2008
8:00-8:45 AM The Benefits of a Systematic Approach to Monetary Policy
Credibility and predictability are important elements of good monetary policy. President Plosser will discuss how monetary policy, reacting to the economy in a systematic manner, fosters efficient economic outcomes and improves the transparency and accountability of the central bank. He will discuss the implications of these views for the conduct of monetary policy in the current economic environment.
Charles Plosser, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
8:45-9:00 AM Networking Break
9:00-9:45 AM The Outlook for Health Care Spending
There is no shortage of proposals for "reform" of federal policies toward health care. But all must face the realities of a rapidly growing elderly population, spending constraints, and competing priorities for tax changes. The director of the Congressional Budget Office will describe some of the choices, their implications and how CBO helps Congress sort them out.
Peter Orszag, Director, Congressional Budget Office
9:45-10:00 AM Networking Break
10:00-10:30 AM A View from the U.S. Treasury
Thomas Keene, Bloomberg News, moderator
Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury
10:30-10:45 AM Networking
Break
10:45-12:00 Noon CONCURRENT EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS
A Three Views on the Future of Mortgage Finance
Few issues have dominated the economic headlines over recent months as has mortgage finance. In this session we will get the views of a former policy maker, regulator, and private-sector player in the marketplace.
John Silvia, Wachovia Bank N.A., moderator
Nancy Wentzler, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Karen Weaver, Deutsche Bank
Marc Sumerlin, Lindsey Group
Dealing with Climate Change
In this session, our panelists will discuss the costs and benefits of reducing greenhouse gases and the pros and cons of using a cap-and-trade system or a carbon tax to do so.
Michael Parr, DuPont, moderator
William A. Pizer, Resources for the Future
James Edmonds, Joint Global Change Research Institute
Robert Shackleton, Congressional Budget Office
Sovereign Wealth Funds and Protectionism
This session looks at the structure and projected growth of SWFs and the potential backlash from political constituencies in the capital-importing countries.
Susan Lund, McKinsey Global Institute, moderator
David A. Smith, House Financial Services Committee
Andrew Rozanov, State Street Global Advisers
Sponsor: NABE International Roundtable
12:00-1:30 PM Luncheon Perspectives on 2008 Presidential Election and Policy Priorities
Susan R. Meisinger, President & Chief Executive Officer, Society for Human Resource Management, introduction
Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, NABE President/Ford Motor Company, moderator
Thomas F. McLarty, former Clinton White House Chief of Staff/President, McLarty Associates
SPONSOR: Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
1:45-3:00 PM CONCURRENT EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS B
A. Home Prices
Housing prices, after rising rapidly for many years, have leveled off and in many instances have started to decline. What is the relative importance of nonfinancial fundamentals and financial market developments in current housing price movements? How do regional and national trends differ?
Roy Webb, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, moderator
David Berson, PMI Group
Richard Peach, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Mark Zandi, Moody’s Economy.com
B. CAFE versus Taxes: Impacts on Autos & Other Industries
As we think about using CAFE standards versus taxes to reduce energy consumption and emissions, the policy decisions will have impacts on the automobile industry and all other industries. What is possible? What will be the implications of these potential policy decisions? Is there a preferred approach?
Sydney Smith Hicks, SS Hicks Advisors and Corporate Planning Roundtable Chair, moderator
K.G. Duleep, Energy and Environmental Analysis, Inc
Russell D. Jones, American Petroleum Institute
Sponsor: NABE Corporate Planning Roundtable
C. Prominent Health Care Reform Proposals
This session compares prominent proposals and explores how the proposals would affect consumers, employers, and workers. Democrats have embraced a system of individual and employermandated health coverage, while Republicans call for various changes in tax law to cover the uninsured. Whichever idea prevails, employers and consumers will likely be in for a big change.
Devon Herrick, National Center for Policy Analysis and Health Economics Roundtable Chair, moderator
Michael Cannon, Cato Institute
Len Nichols, New America Foundation
Jeff Lemieux,
America’s Health Insurance Plans
Sponsor: NABE Health Economics Roundtable
3:00-3:30 PM Networking Break
Sponsor: American Farm Bureau Federation
3:30-4:45 PM CONCURRENT EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS C
A. Spillovers from Housing to Consumer Spending
A major current concern is the possibility that weakness in housing may result in sustained softness in consumer spending, the largest single component of economic activity. This session examines this concern, taking into account the many channels through which housing and consumption are intertwined, including wealth, credit, and confidence effects.
Paul Bennett, New York Stock Exchange, moderator
Peter Hooper, Deutsche Bank Securities
Charles Steindel, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Chris Varvares, Macroeconomic Advisers LLC
Innovation and Nanotechnology: Creating a Perfect Marriage for the Knowledge Economy
Innovation-based economic development (IBED) is emerging as a potential new paradigm in the development of regional technology clusters. This session considers the IBED paradigm in the context of the field of nanotechnology research and application, and discusses the implications for regional development and public policy.
Richard Seline, New Economy Strategies LLC, moderator
Edward Cupoli, State University of New York at Albany
Terry Holzheimer, Arlington (Virginia) County Economic Development
Ben Plowman, Luna Innovations
Sponsor: NABE Technology Roundtable
A Regional Economic Outlook: Will There Be Life After Housing?
In many regions of the country the housing sector has gone from an eagle to an albatross. Will it become a vulture circling the remains of this expansion? In this session our panelists offer their forecast for regional economies as they struggle with the economic aftershocks from the housing sector.
Sean Snaith, University of Central Florida, moderator
Robert Kleinhenz, California Assn of Realtors
Mark Dotzour, Real Estate Center at Texas A&M
James Diffley, Global Insight
Sponsor: AUBER
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
8:00-9:30 AM Breakfast The Economic Outlook
Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, NABE President/Ford Motor Company, moderator
Donald Marron, Member (nominated), President’s Council of Economic Advisers
SPONSOR: Ford Motor Company
9:30-10:15 AM The Future of Social Insurance and Taxation
David Wyss, Standard & Poor’s, moderator
Martin Feldstein, President, National Bureau of Economic Research
Sponsor: Standard & Poor’s
10:15-10:45 AM Networking Break
Sponsor: Associated General Contractors of America
10:45-12:00 Noon CONCURRENT EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS D
A. Corporate Taxes: Raise? Remove? Reform?
One of the key fiscal policy decisions for the next President and Congress will be to set the level and role of corporate taxation. This panel, which includes an author of the 1986 Tax Reform Act, a longtime congressional analyst of tax proposals, and a former member of President Bush’s economic team, will lay out the choices and their consequences for the budget and the economy.
Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America, moderator
C. Eugene Steuerle, The Urban Institute
Jane Gravelle, Congressional Research Service
Alan Viard, American Enterprise Institute
Communicating Monetary Policy
Even as the communication of U.S. monetary policy decisions has evolved toward greater transparency over time, questions have emerged as to the appropriate amount and type of information a central bank should communicate about its forecasts and decision process. This session considers the challenges faced by monetary authorities as they seek to communicate with the public and the marketplace—particularly during periods of crisis—and discusses lessons learned in recent years by the world’s major central banks.
Robert McGee, U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, moderator
Ethan Harris, Lehman Brothers
Adam Posen, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Vincent Reinhart, American Enterprise Institute
Sponsor: NABE Financial Roundtable
Green Initiatives: Short and Long-Term Profitability Issues
Wal-Mart, Target, and other large retailers as well as large manufacturing companies are initiating programs to reduce the carbon footprint of their products and/or reduce harmful substances used in their manufacture. Is this a differentiation strategy or a means to optimize and improve manufacturing cost competitiveness? What are the implications for manufacturers?
Kathryn Kobe, Economic Consulting Services LLC, moderator
Lisa Jacobson, Business Council for Sustainable Energy
Andrew Aulisi, World Resources Institute
Miranda Anderson, Wal-Mart
A representative from one of the Detroit Three
Sponsor: NABE Manufacturing Roundtable
12:15-1:45 PM Luncheon A View from the Federal Reserve
Frederic Mishkin, Member, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System
2:00-3:15 PM CONCURRENT EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS E
Immigration Estimates: Methodology and Current Research
Population trends directly affect many sectors of a regional economy, from housing and construction to education and public finance. Foreign immigration as well as net in-migration from other states are key statistics to track. This panel will examine how some regional economists use traditional and non-traditional indicators to estimate regional population trends. With the 2010 census looming, the Census Bureau’s perspective will add to the discussion, and the Bureau’s latest data collection techniques will be presented.
J. Bruce Kellison, University of Texas, Austin, moderator
Rodger Johnson, U.S. Census Bureau
Alexa Kennedy-Puthoff, U.S. Census Bureau
Jeffrey Passel, Pew Hispanic Center
Sponsor: AUBER
The Regional Economic Outlook for 2008 and Beyond: The Role of Energy
What does 2008 hold for the regional economies? Which regions are especially impacted by high-energy prices? Looking to the future, what regions will face increasing difficulty in meeting the growing demand for energy? What infrastructure investment is needed to prevent brownouts/blackouts and foster economic growth? This session will present the outlook for the regional economies in 2008 with special emphasis on the role of energy.
Ann Dunbar, US Bureau of Economic Analysis, moderator
Mary V. Novak, Global Insight
Jone-Lin Wang, Cambridge Energy Research Associates
Sponsor: NABE Regional Utility Roundtable
The New Politics of Transportation Financing
Maia Pykina, TTX Company, moderator
C. Kenneth Orski, Transportation NewsBriefs
Susan Binder, National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission
Theodore Prince, Consolidated Chassis Management, LLC
Sponsor: TTX Company
3:30-4:45 PM Economic Debate 2008
A debate among the economic advisers of the top U.S. presidential candidates.
Thomas R. Keene, Bloomberg News, moderator
French Hill, economic adviser to Governor Huckabee
John Silvia, economic adviser to Senator McCain
Daniel Tarullo, economic adviser to Senator Obama
Brian Dreese, economic adviser to Senator Clinton
