50th Annual Meeting: “Addressing Future Economic Challenges”

Organizers of NABE’S 50TH Annual Meeting, set for Oct. 4-7 in Washington, D.C., are putting the finishing touches on a program that promises a stellar roster of headliner speakers and other prominent economists.  The theme is: “Addressing Future Economic Challenges.”

Confirmed speakers for the annual meeting include:  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Council of Economic Advisers Chair Edward Lazear, FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair, and former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers.  Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan is the honorary chair of the meeting.

Plan to attend receptions and other special events that will be part of the 50th anniversary meeting at the JW Marriot Hotel, near the White House and Treasury Department.

Members and guests are invited to a special dinner honoring NABE’s past presidents on Saturday, Oct. 4, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the National Press Club. Jeffrey Sachs, director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and professor of health policy and management at Columbia University, will be the featured speaker.

Third Debate Set Between Presidential Candidates’ Advisers

Capping its sponsorship of election-year economic policy debates, NABE will host the final debate of this season on Sunday, Oct. 4.  Jason Furman, economic adviser to presumption Democratic nominee Barack Obama, and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, economic adviser to presumption Republican nominee John McCain will square off that afternoon.   Judy Woodruff of the Newshour and Steve Liesman of CNBC will moderate the debate.

NABE President Ellen Hughes-Cromwick points out in her Annual Report to members that the format used by NABE at its first economic policy debate last November has served as a model for news networks and other organizations.  She will present her presidential address the afternoon of Monday, Oct. 6.  At the end of the annual meeting, newly elected President Chris Varvares, president of Macroeconomic Advisers LLC, other officers and members of the Board of Directors elected in July will take office. See report on the new board in this issue.

Other confirmed speakers for the three-day meeting include: Abby Joseph Cohen, president of the Global Markets Institute and senior investment strategist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.; Robert Hall, chairman of the Business-Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research; Wei Li, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia; Christopher L. Magee, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Peter Orszag, director of the Congressional Budget Office; Edmund Phelps, McVickar Professor of Political Economy at Columbia University and winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Economics; and William Poole, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Michael Mussa Calls on Adam Smith

Michael Mussa, Peterson Institute for International Economics, will receive the Adam Smith Award, NABE’s highest honor, at the annual meeting.  When he delivers the Adam Smith address the morning of Oct. 7, Mussa plans to draw upon Smith’s writings to help explain today’s financial crisis and its ramifications for the broader U.S. economy.  See an article about Mussa’s observations on the current situation and his concerns about reforms in this issue.

William R. Bell and Robert M. Groves, recipients of the 2008 Julius Shiskin Memorial Award for Economic Statistics, will be recognized at meeting for their contributions to survey methodologies and technical initiatives that have become part of key economic statistical measures.  See an article about their work and contributions in this issue.

NABE Board Member Lynn Reaser is chair of the annual meeting organizing committee and newly elected vice president for the 2008-2009 year. She is chief economist of Bank of America’s Investment Strategies Group. Rich Brown, chief economist of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Kevin Kliesen, economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, are also members of the organizing committee.

The meeting will include sessions on:

• The Role of Free Trade in Controlling Healthcare Costs;
• “Peak Oil” and the Global Energy Challenge;
• China and India: Challenges to Their Growth;
• A Nobel Laureate Panel on Globalization;
• U.S. Business Cycle dating;
• Long-Term Fiscal Outlook;
• Innovation and Its Measurement in the 21st Century; and
• U.S. Manufacturing Renaissance

Small Group Dinners, Receptions for Networking

Come early and attend the NABE President’s reception at the hotel on Saturday night. The reception will be followed by the dinner honoring NABE’s past presidents.

The evening of Sunday, Oct. 5, the first full day of the meeting, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China will host at reception for annual meeting attendees and their guests at the country’s new embassy in Northwest D.C.  The embassy complex opened in late July, just days before the United States opened its new embassy in Beijing.

Small group dinners will follow the reception at the embassy.  Topics and dinner hosts will be announced soon and the information will be posted on nabe.com.

The evening of Monday, Oct. 6, attendees and guests are invited to a special reception at headquarters of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.

Skills Sessions Kick Off Meeting

The annual meeting will open on Sunday, Oct. 5, with two skills sessions:  one on “Financial Engineering” with Erik Heitfield of the Federal Reserve Board, focusing on complex financial instruments that are traded in markets; and the other on “Professional Presence and Nonverbal Communications” with consultant Kay Wortman on how to “package your product, yourself, and make a great first impression.” In their evaluations of recent annual meeting, members gave high marks to skills sessions, as they offer more personal skills training to round out the schedule of keynote speakers and concurrent sessions packed with details of the latest trends and projections.

Travel Information

For reservations at the JW Marriott, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, call 800-393-2503 or 202-393-2000 and mention NABE to receive the special room rate.  The room block cut-off date is Sept. 12; early registration is recommended as hotel rooms in Washington fill rapidly at this time of year.

Check for program details and updates at: http://www.nabe.com/am2008/program.html

Register online at: https://secure.icglink.com/nabe/am08reg.html