PDS Adds Focus on Regional, International, Industry Data

For the first time, NABE’s Professional Development Seminar (PDS) will add sessions on regional, international, and industry statistics to its popular mix of core statistics when it convenes at the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas June 16-18. 

With its signature format developed over four years, the PDS blends the expertise of economists from federal agencies that produce key data series with the experience of their counterparts who use those data in the private and public sectors to develop forecasts and policy analysis.  The seminar also provides the opportunity for attendees to interact with speakers off-line, another popular feature.

Register by May 15 and save $50 on fees.  Hotel reservations are available at a discounted rate through May 15 at the Westin City Center, within walking distance of the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown Dallas.

“This year’s seminar is jam-packed with traditional and new material in a format designed to be cost-effective and extensive,” said Chris Swann, co-chair of the 2008 PDS planning committee.  The seminar is structured with two tracks of concurrent sessions.  One track will contain all of the core macroeconomic themes traditionally provided.  A second track, added this year, will focus on regional, industry, and international economics. 

“The core PDS content – which includes the gross domestic product, employment statistics, price statistics, and the flow of funds statistics – has been enormously popular with early- to mid-career professionals, many of whom are new to NABE,” pointed out Rosemary Marcuss, former NABE president and co-chair of this year’s planning committee.  “The program presents the most important data produced by the statistical agencies along with interesting applications of that data presented by professionals in the field,” she said.

Many NABE members have asked that PDS expand its coverage to include regional, international, and industry applications and NABE has responded to that request in this year’s program, said Duncan Meldrum, former NABE president and PDS founder.

At the start of the seminar, attendees will have the option of attending a skills session presented by Maurine Haver, president of Haver Analytics and chair of NABE’s Statistics Committee, on Sunday, June 16.  Next Meldrum, chief economist of Air Products, will present a session on price index number construction and related issues, and then follow with a session on time series decomposition analysis, another addition to this year’s program.

NABE president Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, chief economist at Ford, will give a luncheon address on pulling together analysis and forecasts into a cohesive corporate plan.  Other sessions will feature John Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Bank, Stuart Hoffman, former NABE president and chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group, and Meldrum.  Silvia will reprise his annual meeting discussion on communicating cyclical intelligence and the panel will address the art of analysis and forecasting.

To register for the seminar and find more details on the program and hotel reservations go to: http://nabe.com/stats2008/