President’s Letter

Dear Fellow NABE members:

Now that several days have passed since the energy and buzz generated at our annual meeting in St. Louis, let me share with you my vision and goals for our organization over the coming year.  Two major themes will guide much of the work we will undertake.

Externally, we must make economics more relevant.  During the past two to three years, our profession was not only lampooned but also denigrated with the common view that “we missed it.”  Although a number of economists had warned of the dangers of a housing bubble, few foresaw the near meltdown of our financial sector and the severe recession that ensued. 

But, that is history.  Now economists are in a position to help individuals, companies, nonprofit organizations, and governments understand and take advantage of the coming cyclical expansion.  We can also help them prepare for the longer term, which could represent a very different landscape and set of rules compared with what they have known in the past.

We have the analytical tools and imagination to guide policymakers to better decisions.  Assistant Treasury Secretary for Economic Policy Alan Krueger requested our help to certify certain economic data to improve the accuracy of inputs into the decision process.  Chris Varvares, in his closing presidential address, pointed to the dangers of an escalating federal debt in future years and implored us as economists to have a voice at the table.

Internally, we must make NABE a compelling proposition.  Anyone who uses economics in his or her work should not only know about our organization but also believe it is essential to be a member.  The “Got NABE?” buttons distributed at the annual meeting are a symbol of our commitment:  the value of what you receive in terms of information, analysis, training, and contacts will far exceed the price of membership.

Areas of Focus 

Tom Beers, our new executive director, and I will be trying some new things while we advance many of the outstanding efforts driven by Chris Varvares, Ellen Hughes- Cromwick, and their predecessors.  Most of our efforts will be targeted in the following six areas.

Education.  As part of our value proposition, we want to provide the educational resources and training to help young economists and analysts make the transition from academia to the real world and to all economists and analysts throughout their career.  To this end, we will be launching NABE University under the auspices of our new vice president, Rich Wobbekind.  This may begin with a “boot camp” for young economists, building on and supplementing our successful Professional Development Seminar (PDS), which has emphasized understanding and using various sources of economic data.  We are also exploring the granting of a certificate or credential, similar to the CFA [Chartered Financial Analyst], which could be used to the benefit of individual NABE members in their jobs and careers.

Young professionals.  We will be paying more attention to the pipeline of economists by focusing much more on young professionals.  Parul Jain is leading an effort to recruit college students, as we believe NABE can help these individuals both get a job and receive the practical training they will need.  The program grants any professor a free year of NABE membership if he or she can sign up ten individuals interested in joining NABE.  We will expand our mentoring program and further develop our popular Get Connected program, both led by Chris Swann, to provide critical support and networking for advancing young economists and analysts.

Improving the organization’s value to members.  We want to improve the value of our services to our constituency.  One of the first priorities will be a revamping of our website, involving a refreshing, updating, and incorporation of new technology.  Most importantly, you will soon see a massive upgrading of our job site.  You will have access to hundreds of jobs available in economics, as the new site will gather data from all other sites and become the focal point for any entity looking for a person with economics skills.

Chapters.  We want to do a much better job in interacting with our chapters located around the nation. Chad Moutray will be leading this effort. Often, there has been a disconnect between the local and national organizations.  We will be exploring how to better serve the locals, such as using technology to help them with their distribution, registration, and other tasks.  A joint or bundle pricing system involving local and national membership is also being investigated.  Tom Beers and I will also be visiting as many chapters as possible.  If you are interested in having one or both of us speak at one of your meetings, please contact Tom at the national office.

Roundtables.  While chapters provide a focus on NABE benefits on a local or geographic basis, our Roundtables afford the ability to offer industry specific information and networking opportunities.  Kevin Swift will coordinate our Roundtables this year.  Expect to see more listings of valuable conference calls featuring experts on different topics as the Roundtables ramp up their energy and offering of services to you.  We also will be offering two new Roundtables:  Housing/Construction and Transfer Pricing.

International outreach. It was most gratifying to see economists from other parts of the world at our annual meeting, including professionals from Japan, Finland, Sweden, the U.K., Canada, Germany, and the Czech Republic.  We will be developing closer relationships with economists’ organizations in other countries, beginning with the Canadian Association for Business Economics (CABE).  We are also investigating, under the leadership of Stuart Mackintosh, the feasibility of taking a delegation to China, visiting Beijing and Shanghai, followed by a reciprocal trip to the United States by a team of economists from China.  Other ways to develop our international connections and improve our understanding of the global economy will also be pursued.

Your Help

Finally, please let Tom Beers or me know of any suggestions you might have on what we should be doing, not doing, or doing better.  This is your organization and we are committed to make it as good as it possibly can be.

Best regards,

Lynn Reaser

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