Welcome Aboard, New NABE Members!

Please join the NABE Board of Directors and staff in welcoming new members who joined over the last two months.  Since January, 343 persons have joined NABE. New members are added to the on-line registry at http://www.nabe.com/mem/search.html at the beginning of each month.  The first issue of two IdeaLinks emailed to NABE members each month includes a listing of new members.   Here are selections from brief interviews, conducted by e-mail, with four new members:

Tanweer Akram
Vice President
ING Investment Management                                              
Atlanta, Ga.

What is your current position?
I am vice president, macroeconomics research, ING Investment Management and I am responsible for monitoring recent economic developments in the United States and other G-7 countries.  I have been in this position since mid-September 2006.

What is the main focus of your company or organization?
ING Investment Management is the investment arm of ING Group.

What are your career highlights and education--before your current job?
I worked as senior economist for Moody's Economy.com prior to joining ING Investment Management.  I have also worked for the Investment Climate Department of the World Bank and for A.T. Kearney's Global Business Policy Council in Washington, D.C.  I obtained my PhD in economics from Columbia University in New York.  I received a Master's degree in economics from the London School of Economics, U.K.

Why did you join NABE?
I joined NABE in order to take advantage of its network of professional economists in different industries and levels of government

What drew you to economics?
As someone growing up in Bangladesh, I was interested in what countries can do to eliminate poverty, improve the standards of living, enhance growth and achieve sustainable development.  The subject of economics seems to offer useful insights and views.  That's what drew me to economics.

Bill Hubbell
Consultant
Microsoft 
Centennial, Colo.

What is your current position?
I am a business productivity advisor and I help Microsoft clients improve business processes by utilizing Microsoft software solutions. I’ve held this position for three years.

What is the main focus of your company or organization?
Software.

What are your career highlights and education--before your current job?
I worked for 10 years in management consulting in the area of Corporate Finance (Stern Stewart, KPMG, Arthur Andersen, etc) and for 20 years in industry (manufacturing and information services) in finance, marketing, sales and operations.  I earned a Bachelors degree in economics at the University of Southern California and an MBA at the University of California-Los Angeles.

Why did you join NABE?
I want to have access to a consensus of economic forecasts and various economic analyses.

What drew you to economics?
I started my undergraduate education in engineering.  I soon moved to economics and received a BA degree from USC.  I wanted to study a discipline that used lots of math but also involved people.

Thomas Krasnor
Sales Strategic Analyst
CBS Digital Media     
Pembroke Pines, Fla.

What is your current position?
As a sales strategic analyst, I work with sales management on pricing controls, yield management, category sell-through, and account management. I develop and maintain pricing and inventory models, forecast available inventory, and manage and maintain revenue database. I’ve held this position for two years.

What is the main focus of your company or organization?
 Online publishing.

What are your career highlights and education--before your current job? 
I earned both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in economics.

Why did you join NABE?
I joined NABE to remain close to the business of economics after I completed my Master's degree.  I wanted to have continual access to current events from the economic perspective, insights from industry leaders, and contact information for people in the same field.

What drew you to economics?
I was attracted to economics because of its overall relevance to all types of business and thought.  The principles of economics can be used in every industry and are applicable in every case of decision analysis.

Anders Rune
Chief Economist
Association of Swedish Engineering Industries      
Stockholm, Sweden

What is your current position?
I have been chief economist of the Association of Swedish Engineering Industries for over 20 years.

What is the main focus of your company or organization?
The Association of Swedish Engineering Industries is an employer and branch organization that represents more than 3,200 engineering companies - Sweden's most important companies.  Our members operate in a range of sectors such as telecommunications, fabricated metal products, electronics, machinery and equipment, office machinery and apparatus, power industry, instrument technology, optics, motor cars and transport equipment.

What are your career highlights and education--before your current job?
I was president and one of the founders of Finanstidningen, a daily newspaper often called  "A Swedish Financial Times".  Before that I was a licentiate (1983) in Industrial Management and MBA (1976) in Industrial Economics, Linköping University of Technology.

Why did you join NABE?
For its professional members.

What drew you to economics?
My father was an engineer.