Speakers
Professional Development Seminar 2008
Economic Analysis: Quality Data, Meaningful Results
Mohsen Bonakdarpour
Senior Principal
Global Insight
Mohsen Bonakdarpour is a Senior Principal in the Information Technology and Telecommunications business practice and has been with Global Insight since 1986. With years of telecom experience and an expertise in international, regional, and industrial economics, he is one of Global Insight's most senior economists. Mr. Bonakdarpour has worked with a wide range of clients, helping them to size their markets, predict demand by product, and better target their marketing efforts. He was primarily responsible for the development of a comprehensive forecasting framework that projects telecommunications demand by product at the national, state, and metropolitan area level. He has recently extended this methodology for a number of clients, forecasting demand for counties and wire centers. Prior to joining Global Insight, Mr. Bonakdarpour worked in the Telecommunications Group at PNR & Associates and at the Center for Social Policy and Community Development at Temple University. He holds an MA in Economics from Temple University.
Maria Borga
Economist
Bureau of Economic Analysis
Maria Borga received a B.A. in Economics and a B.S. in French from the Pennsylvania State University and a Ph. D. in Economics from Boston University. She is an economist in the Research Branch of the International Directorate of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Her research is in the areas of U.S. international services, foreign direct investment in the United States, intra-firm trade in goods, and the adaptation of production processes to host country factor prices at U.S. firms’ foreign manufacturing affiliates. She has presented papers on the offshoring of services, intrafirm trade, and production process adaptation at the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Western Economics Association Annual Meetings, the World Bank, and the Brookings Institution.
Michael Chriszt
Director of International and Regional Analysis
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Michael Chriszt is the director of International and Regional Analysis in the Latin America Research Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. In addition to directing the work of the LARG, he monitors and reports on economic, financial, and political developments in foreign economies and the states of the Sixth District. He holds degrees in diplomacy and foreign affairs and history, and a master’s degree in political economy from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He joined the bank in 1989.
Arthur Cresce
U.S. Census Bureau
Dr. Arthur Cresce has had a lifelong devotion to providing high-quality information to the data-user public. He began his professional career at the Census Bureau in 1973 where he worked on the development of data for the Hispanic population. At the time, this was one of the top priorities of the Census Bureau, especially given keen Congressional interest in the topic. For 26 years he played an important role in the development, testing, and evaluation of questions used in current surveys and in three decennial censuses. He gained particularly strong expertise in devising strategies for editing data and imputing for missing values. From 1992 to 1998, Dr. Cresce worked in the Decennial Management Division, participating in the planning for Census 2000. During this time, he served as project manager for the Continuous Measurement Survey, which has now developed into the American Community Survey. He also served as project manager for a key study to create a pay rate system that would ensure employment of sufficient human resources to complete critical field work under tight time constraints. He received a promotion to Assistant Division Chief for Housing Characteristics in the Housing and Household Economics Statistics Division in April 2005.
His formal education includes a batchelor’s degree in international affairs from the George Washington University with a strong background in economics. He received a master’s degree in demography from Georgetown University, where he wrote his master’s thesis on migration as a response to differential economic development among regions of the United States. Finally, he received a Ph.D. in policy sciences from the University of Maryland at Baltimore, which allowed him to combine the disciplines of demography and economics in assessing the impact of public policy on the population. Of note, his dissertation dealt with the impact of receipt of unemployment insurance on mobility of the unemployed.
Dr. Cresce looks forward to meeting and working with users of housing data to understand their data needs and provide the data that will meet those needs.
Mark D'Amato
Head of the Consulting Division
REMI
Dr. Mark D’Amato holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the New School for Social Research and a B.A. in History from New York University. His experience in macroeconomic modeling began in graduate school, leading to his doctoral dissertation, an econometric model of corporate investment and borrowing. As an assistant Vice President at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, Dr. D’Amato supervised cost-benefit analyses of industrial development projects and real estate development projects, and developed a model of property value assessment that was used to evaluate the tax impact of high profile real estate development projects. His research has focused on macroeconomic modeling, econometrics, and the economic effects of public policy on the national and local levels. As Manager, Senior Economist, and current Head of the Consulting Division of REMI, Dr. D’Amato has supervised numerous projects, including studies of the economic impacts of power generation and energy distribution. He has worked closely with clients such as NRG Energy, the EPA, and the State of New Mexico on energy related issues.
James Diffley
Director, U.S. Regional Service
Global Insight
James Diffley is Group Managing Director of Global Insight’s U.S. Regional Services Group, with overall responsibility for U.S. Regional Services. Since 1998, he has supervised the quarterly economic forecast of the 50 states and over 300 metropolitan areas of the United States. He regularly makes presentations of these regional economic forecasts and analysis to clients, conferences, governmental bodies, and the press.
He is also responsible for numerous customized consulting projects. These have included long-term projections of cigarette consumption, tax revenue forecasts, and numerous local economic impact studies. Mr. Diffley joined WEFA, the predecessor of Global Insight, in 1997 after nine years with the New Jersey Department of Treasury. He did his Ph.D. training in economics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Robert Fry
Senior Associate Economist
DuPont
Robert Fry is Senior Associate Economist, DuPont Economist's Office, where he analyzes and forecasts the global economy and its impact on DuPont. He assists DuPont businesses with interpreting economic data and using it to forecast DuPont performance. He speaks frequently to customers, trade associations, and business teams. He is the author of Current Business Developments, a monthly newsletter.
DuPont Economist’s Office (Robert Fry and DuPont Corporate Economist Bob Shrouds) tied for first place in The Wall Street Journal’s semiannual forecasting survey (2nd half 2002), made the top 10 in USA Today’s forecasting survey (March 2004 and March 2005) and Bloomberg’s forecasting survey (October 2004), and won the prestigious Lawrence R. Klein Award for Blue Chip Forecast Accuracy (November 2005).
He has a B.S. (Economics) from Ohio University, 1979; Harvard University, A.M. (Economics), 1981, Ph.D. (Economics), 1985.
He is a past chapter president of the Wilmington, DE chapter of the National Association for Business Economics.
Patricia Getz
Assistant Commissioner for Industry Employment Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Patricia Getz is Assistant Commissioner for Industry Employment Statistics at the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with responsibility for the Current Employment Statistics and Job Openings and Labor Turnover Statistics programs, as well as the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. Pat started her career with BLS in 1976 and has worked on production, research and development, and program management for several of the Bureau’s employment and wages programs during her tenure. She is a graduate of the State University of New York and hold a masters degree in economics from American University.
Maurine Haver
President
Haver Analytics
Maurine is President and founder of Haver Analytics Inc., an economic consulting and information services company. Prior to starting Haver Analytics in 1978, she was an economist in the economic forecasting group of General Electric in New York, a member of the International Staff of Companie Bull General Electric in Paris and a consultant in the Foreign Currency Exposure Management Group of the Chase Manhattan Bank in London.
Maurine served as President of the National Association of Business Economists (1994-95) and now chairs the NABE campaign for Quality Economic Data that she initiated during her year as president. In her role as Chair of the NABE Statistics Committee, she testifies before Congress on statistical issues, conducts quarterly meetings which bring together producers and users of federal statistics and organizes seminars to help users better understand the statistics available from government and private sources.
Maurine chairs the Business Research Advisory Council of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Bureau of Economic Analysis. She has served as secretary of the Forecasters Club of New York since 1992. She is a past president of the New York Association for Business Economics (1989-90), the Downtown Economists Club (1993-94) and the Money Marketeers of New York University (1998-99). She chaired the board of the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics (COPAFS) during 2001-2003. She currently serves on the board of Mutual of America and is a member of the American Economic Association, the American Statistical Association and the National Economists Club.
Maurine holds a B.S. in Economics and Mathematics from Michigan State University, an M.B.A. from the Stern School of New York University and completed her oral exam for a PhD in International Economics at NYU.
Ben Herzon
Macroeconomic Advisers
Ben joined Macroeconomic Advisers in June 1998 as a 'Mr.' and was upgraded to a 'Dr.' in May 1999 when he was awarded a Ph.D. in economics from Washington University in St. Louis. Ben's primary responsibilities at Macroeconomic Advisers involve utilizing monthly data to update MA's current-quarter forecast. This involves research into the construction of the National Accounts and modeling of interactions among monthly data series. Ben is a member of the National Association of Business Economics and a former member of the renowned rock group Lunker Buzz. Prior to his current stint with applied macroeconomics, Ben traveled the country in a Ford Econoline 150 with the band playing both known and unknown clubs for unconscionably low sums of money.
Michael W. Horrigan
Associate Commissioner in the Office of Prices and Living Conditions
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Since March 2007, Dr. Michael W. Horrigan has served as Associate Commissioner in the Office of Prices and Living Conditions at the BLS.
Mike has held several positions in his career at BLS.
Between October 2004 and March 2007, Dr. Michael W. Horrigan served as the Assistant Commissioner responsible for the Producer Price Index program. Prior to that he served as Assistant Commissioner for the office that publishes Occupational Employment Survey data and the biennial BLS long-term projections of industry and occupational employment. He also served as Director of both the BLS National Longitudinal Surveys Program and the BLS Establishment Surveys of Employer-Provided Training.
Other significant work experience includes heading the development team for the BLS American Time Use Survey and serving as a Senior Labor Economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers from 1990-1991.
He holds a doctorate in Economics from Purdue University and is the author of numerous publications, including articles on unemployment duration, earnings inequality, and measuring the demand for skills in the labor force.
Ellen Hughes-Cromwick
Ford Motor Company
NABE President
Ellen Hughes-Cromwick is a director and chief economist at Ford Motor Company, and President of NABE. She joined Ford in 1996, and now directs the corporate economics group with major responsibility for the company’s global economic and automotive industry forecasts. Prior to joining Ford, she was a senior economist at Mellon Bank from 1990 to 1996, and assistant professor of economics at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, during the late 1980s. She served for two years as a staff economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers during the Reagan Administration. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, a master’s degree in international development, and a PhD in economics at Clark University in Massachusetts. She was recently appointed to the Congressional Budget Office Panel of Economic Advisers.
Jack Kleinhenz
Kleinhenz and Associates
Jack Kleinhenz. Ph.D. is CEO of Kleinhenz & Associates and is Regional Economist and Lecturer at Weatherhead School of Management. Kleinhenz & Associates, Inc., a business and economic consulting firm based in Cleveland, Ohio, specializes in industry studies, regional economics, labor market issues strategic planning and business plan development.
Jack has over 25 years of broad-based experience working with Fortune 500 companies, financial service companies, regulators, planners, universities, airports, manufacturers, chambers of commerce, trade associations, non-profit organizations and state and local government agencies. He is known for translating economics and information into clear explanations and action. Jack speaks on business and regional economic issues and regularly called upon for his expertise by the local and national media. Formerly with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Jack recently served as chief economist and consultant to the Greater Cleveland Growth Association, the nation’s largest chamber of commerce. He teaches economics as a faculty member of CASE’s Weatherhead School of Management.
A graduate of John Carroll University, Jack earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Notre Dame. In 1995, Jack was named one of John Carroll University’s Top 50 School of Business Graduates. Previous faculty appointments include the University of Notre Dame and John Carroll University.
Jack is a member of the Governor of Ohio’s Council of Economic Advisors and the Northeast Ohio Council of Economic Policy Advisors, trustee of Notre Dame College, and a corporate director for Beverage Distributors, Inc, Cleveland, Ohio. A former board member of National Association for Business Economists (NABE), he currently chairs NABE’s education foundation and serves as a member of NABE’s statistics committee that meets regularly with federal policymakers and statistical agencies. Jack is also a contributing economic forecaster to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Economic Outlook Panel and the NABE outlook and policy survey. Contact Jack at 216 321-9522 or jack@kleinhenzassociates.com
Adolfo Laurenti
Senior Economist
Mesirow Financial
Adolfo L. Laurenti is a Senior Economist at Mesirow Financial. He works to develop ongoing economic research and commentary. He is author of Themes on the Global Markets, a monthly newsletter providing insight into trends, issues and the forecast for the global economy. He previously served as associate economist at LaSalle Bank/ABN AMRO.
He is a graduate of Bocconi University Business School, Milan, Italy. He specialized in industrial organization as a visiting scholar at the Center for Industrial Economics in Copenhagen, Denmark, and specialized in financial economics at Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. He has a M.A. in Economics, George Mason University, and pursued doctoral studies at George Mason University.
Brendan Leary
Bureau of Economic Analysis
Brendan Leary is responsible for estimating portions of the Personal Consumption Expenditures for services at the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Since joining the Bureau in 2003 he has incorporated the Quarterly Services Survey data into current estimates of PCE for services, refined many non-market based price measures used in generating the overall PCE deflator and prepared estimates for the new PCE classification structure. Prior to joining BEA, Brendan was a researcher for The Democracy Collaborative concerned with the dynamics of retirement, health care spending and nonprofit institutions.
He received his BA in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland in 2000 and is currently studying for a doctorate in economics from American University.
Rosemary Marcuss
Deputy Director
Bureau of Economic Analysis
Rosemary Marcuss is the Deputy Director of the US Bureau of Economic Analysis and was the President of NABE in 2004-2005. She was a member of the Board of Directors of NABE from 2000 to 2003.
From 1983 to 1998, she was the Assistant Director for Tax Analysis, U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO), where she was responsible for Congressional tax receipts forecasts and tax policy analysis. She has also been: Senior Manager and Economist, Data Resources, Inc.; Assistant to the President, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees; junior staff member, Council of Economic Advisers; Director, National Tax Association; Member: District of Columbia Tax Revision Commission.
She has a Ph.D. University of Maryland, where she had a National Science Foundation Fellowship.
Robert A. “Bob” Marske
Bureau of the Census/Department of Commerce
Bob Marske is chief of the Census Bureau's Customer and Respondent Outreach program for economic statistics, where he uses his advocacy position to promote timely and accurate survey response through outreach and education. He works with industry associations, chambers of commerce, Federal agencies, and the Congress to promote awareness and use of economic data. Bob has a BA in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an MA in Economics from the George Washington University. Bob, his wife, and two sons live in Northern Virginia where they enjoy sports, camping, and travel.
John Mauldin
President
Millennium Wave Advisors, LLC
John is the President of Millennium Wave Advisors, LLC (MWA) which is an investment advisory firm registered in multiple states. John Mauldin is President of Millennium Wave Securities, LLC a FINRA registered broker-dealer. MWS is also a Commodity Pool Operator (CPO) and a Commodity Trading. John now lives in Uptown Dallas, and is the father of seven children, ranging from ages 14 through 31, five of whom are adopted. He was Chief Executive Officer of the American Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., a publisher of newsletters and books on various investment topics, from 1982 to 1987. He was one of the founders of Adopting Children Together Inc., the largest adoption support group in Texas. He currently serves on the board of directors of The International Reconciliation Coalition and the International Children’s Relief Fund. He is also a member of the Knights of Malta, and has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Texas. He is a frequent contributor to numerous publications, and guest on TV and radio shows as well as quoted widely in the press.
Susan Hume McIntosh
Board of Governors,
Federal Resereve System
Susan Hume McIntosh is a senior economist and special project coordinator for the Flow of Funds Section of the Division of Research and Statistics at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. She began working at the Federal Reserve in 1972 and has spent most of her career working on the flow of funds accounts. From 1979-1985 she was the assistant to Governor Charles Partee at the Federal Reserve.
She currently is responsible for coordinating the compilation of the flow of funds accounts each quarter and for coordinating all methodological changes to the accounts. In addition, she is involved in the preparation of the financial forecast for the FOMC. She is the U.S. delegate and vice chairman of the OECD working party on financial statistics. She has worked on several IMF projects, including the pilot project on financial soundness indicators. She worked with BEA on a joint project on “Integrated Macroeconomic Accounts for the United States” that was release in the fall of 2006. Recognized internationally as an expert on financial accounts, she recently made a presentation at the ECB Working Group on Monetary Union Financial Accounts this spring.
Ms. McIntosh received her MBA in finance and investments from The George Washington University and her BA from the College of William and Mary.
Robert T. McGee
Chief Economist
United States Trust Company NA
Tim McGee is Chief Economist at U.S. Trust. He is responsible for the economic forecast and other economic research with a focus on investment strategy. In addition, he serves on the Finance and Investment Strategy Committees.
Prior to joining U.S. Trust, Mr. McGee was a strategist and economist with UFJ and Tokai Banks. He is well known in Japan for his regular market column in the Nikkei Financial Daily. In 2000, Business Week magazine recognized him for making the most accurate forecast in its annual survey of economists. More recently, both Bloomberg and USA Today recognized him for outstanding forecasting accuracy. He has appeared on CNBC, Reuters, and Bloomberg TV and has often been quoted in various publications like the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.
Mr. McGee began his career in the academic world teaching at Florida State University and New York University. He also spent three years at the New York Federal Reserve Bank and one year as a fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies. He has published numerous articles in academic journals.
Tim received his B.S. from the Georgia Institute of Technology and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin. Some of his memberships include the American Economic Association, the National Association of Business Economics, The Forecasters Club of New York and the Money Marketeers. He currently serves as Chairman of the American Banker Association’s Economic Advisory Committee. In that capacity he will also serve on the ABA Government Relations Committee. Recently, he joined the New York City Economic Advisory Panel.
Duncan Meldrum
Chief Economist
Air Products
Duncan Meldrum is the Chief Economist for Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., an $8.1 billion industrial gas company serving customers in over 30 countries. As Chief Economist, he assesses the impact of the economic environment on the company’s performance for the executive management team and develops global economic assumptions for the company’s operating plans. He provides operating groups with pricing assistance, contract support and market analyses. He also serves as the company’s economics spokesperson.
He received a B.S. degree from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1973, a M.S. degree in Operations Research from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1974, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Lehigh University in 1992. He is a member of the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Census Bureau. He serves as a director on the boards of the APCI Federal Credit Union and the nonprofit Parkette National Gymnastics Center. He is a past president of the National Association for Business Economics. His other professional associations include the Conference of Business Economists, the National Business Economic Issues Council, and the American Economics Association.
Nora Cecilia Mirshafii
Senior Vice President and Senior Analyst
US Trust/Bank of America Private Wealth Management
As Senior Analyst in the Macro Strategy Research Division, Nora is responsible for analyzing domestic, international financial/economic developments and their implications for economic growth, currencies and corporate profits, in support of strategy research/asset allocation decisions. She is the author of Market Currents Illustrated and Focus reports. She is an occasional contributor to Capital Acumen. Prior to Bank of America’s acquisition of U.S. Trust, Nora was Senior Vice President and Senior Economist, responsible for U.S. economic forecasts, currency and profits forecasts and country-risk assessment. In that capacity, she was co-author with Chief Economist of the flagship publication, The Quarterly Outlook. She was also author of The Quarterly Outlook in Brief, the Global Review, the Annual Country Risk Review and occasional Focus and Economic Week Ahead pieces. She worked closely with U.S. Trust’s Global Investment Division and was a member of the Senior Investment Forum and the Asset/Liability Committee. Prior to joining U.S. Trust in 1989, Nora held positions in the fields of industrial relations and economics at the American Paper Institute. She is a member of various professional associations, including the Americas Society/Council of the Americas, the Japan Society, the American Council on Germany, the Downtown Economists, the New York Association of Business Economists and the National Association for Business Economics. Nora has done advanced graduate studies in economics at the Graduate Faculty of the New School and holds a B.A. in economics from Queens College. She is fluent in Spanish.
Thomas J. Nardone
Assistant Commissioner for Current Employment Analysis
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Thomas J. Nardone is Assistant Commissioner for Current Employment Analysis at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Mr. Nardone’s office manages 4 major statistical programs the Current Population Survey (CPS), the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program (LAUS), the Mass Layoff Survey, and the American Time Use Survey. These programs provide much of the basic information available about national, state, and local labor market issues. The CPS, for example, is the source of the national unemployment rate.
He has worked at BLS since 1976.
Keith Phillips
Senior Economist and Policy Advisor
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, San Antonio Branch
Dr. Phillips joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas in January 1984. His areas of concentration include regional economics and economic forecasting. Dr. Phillips developed business cycle indexes for Texas and its major metro areas, which he uses to analyze business conditions in those regions. He is a contributing member of the Western Blue Chip Economic Forecasting Group, where he has been the most accurate Texas forecaster for eight out of the past thirteen years. His research and analysis have been covered in media such as CNN, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, USA Today, Business Week, the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, MSNBC and in media throughout Texas.
In August, 1996, Dr. Phillips was transferred to the San Antonio branch in an effort to improve the regional economic coverage of the Dallas office and to better serve the needs of the South Texas community. Dr. Phillips teaches courses in econometrics and forecasting at Trinity, Incarnate Word and St. Mary’s Universities. He also teaches courses in managerial economics in the Executive MBA program at UTSA. He obtained his Ph.D. in economics from Southern Methodist University and holds a B.A. and M.A. in Economics and a Bachelor of Journalism degree in News/Editorial from the University of Missouri at Columbia.
Harvey Rosenblum
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Harvey Rosenblum is executive vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. In this capacity, he serves as economic policy advisor to the Bank's president and as an associate economist for the Federal Open Market Committee, which formulates the nation's monetary policy.
Rosenblum is also a past president and a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), a prestigious trade association whose 3,000 members are the leading business economists in the United States and many other countries. Past presidents of NABE include several Federal Reserve presidents as well as former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan. Rosenblum is currently serving as Executive Director of the North American Economics and Finance Association. He also is a member of the Product Development and Small Business Incubator Board, appointed by the governor of Texas.
A widely recognized expert on both the national and Texas economies, Rosenblum has written articles for such publications as The Journal of Finance, New York Times, Southwest Economy and The Handbook of Banking Strategy.
Active in economic education, Rosenblum is a visiting professor of finance at Southern Methodist University, teaching courses in contemporary issues on monetary policy and financial institutions and markets.
Rosenblum received a B.A. in economics from the University of Connecticut in 1965 and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1972.
He began his career with the Federal Reserve in 1970 as an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, advancing through the ranks to vice president and associate director of research in 1983. He was also a visiting professor of finance with DePaul University from 1973 until 1985. He joined the Dallas Fed as senior vice president and director of research in 1985 and was promoted to executive vice president in 2005.
His current research interests focus on monetary policy, inflation and the growing impact of globalization on the U.S. economy and businesses.
Allen Shiau, Ph.D.
Global Economic Consulting Associates, Inc
Dr. Shiau is the Chief Economist and President of Global Economic Consulting Associates, Inc. He specializes in (1) analyzing the state of economy, policy issues, and risks in key developed and developing countries, (2) conducting economic analysis and policy options in counties with underdeveloped statistical systems and recovering from conflict (3) developing economic diversification strategies for resource-rich counties, (4) advising the US government on international issues, (5) building debt sustainability models for developing countries in Excel for scenario analysis, (6) constructing macroeconometric models with debt sustainability module for clients to perform policy analysis, and (7) training in tracking economic data and econometric modeling. He advises clients on economic policy issues and financial risks in key emerging markets.
Previously, he worked as the Executive Vice President at the WEFA Group, which was originally established by the Nobel Laureate Lawrence Klein. He managed international forecasting, modeling, economic research, and consulting activities, including the activities of WEFA’s international economists based in Philadelphia and London. He was the principal designer of various econometric models used by the WEFA Group and its clients to produce forecasts and access risk scenarios. He served as principal investigator and econometrician for major economic research studies. He works with many firms in product line forecasting, development of customized macroeconomic scenarios, and strategic planning.
Dr. Shiau holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Connecticut. He was also an Adjunct Full Professor at Drexel University teaching graduate economic courses.
John Silvia
Chief Economist
Wachovia Bank N.A.
Dr. John Silvia joined Wachovia in February 2002 as chief economist for the Bank. Previously, John worked on Capitol Hill as senior economist for the U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee and chief economist for the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Prior to that, he was chief economist of Kemper Funds and managing director of Scudder Kemper Investments, Inc. Before joining Kemper Funds, John worked for Harris Bank and taught economics at Indiana University.
John holds a B.A. and a Ph.D. degree in economics from Northeastern University in Boston and has a Master’s degree in economics from Brown University in Providence, RI.
John serves as a member of the Blue Chip Panel of Economic Forecasters and also serves on an informal advisory group for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. He is a member of the Economic Advisory Committee at the American Bankers Association and is President of the Charlotte Economics Club. In the past, John has served on economic advisory committees to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the Public Securities Association.
In addition, John is Treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors for The Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina, a Charlotte civic association. He is also a member of the Business Advisory Committee for the City of Charlotte and he serves on the President’s Council for Charlotte’s Central Piedmont Community College.
Kenneth D. Simonson
Associated General Contractors of America
Ken Simonson joined AGC of America on September 10, 2001. Ever since Day Two he has been provided insight into what was happening to the economy and what it implied for construction and related industries.
Ken’s weekly one-page email newsletter for AGC, The Data DIGest, provides 6000 readers with the latest economic news relevant to construction. He also sends out a variety of state-specific and tax news. He is interviewed and quoted almost daily by local and national media, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Business Week, and CNBC. In addition, he has written eight booklets explaining tax provisions in plain English, and he contributes frequently to a variety of business and professional publications and conferences, including columns for Fleet Owner, a trucking magazine, and The Electrical Distributor.
Ken has 30 years of experience analyzing, advocating and communicating about economic and tax issues. Before joining AGC, he was senior economic advisor in the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy and 13 years. Earlier, he was vice president and chief economist for the American Trucking Associations. He also worked with the President’s Commission on Industrial Competitiveness, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, and an economic consulting firm.
Ken is a board member of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) and author of “Digging into Construction Data,” published in NABE’s journal, Business Economics. Since 1982, he has co-chaired the Tax Economists Forum, a professional meeting group he co-founded for leading researchers and policy makers among tax economists. He is vice president of Community Tax Aid, an organization that prepares returns for free for low-income taxpayers. He was one of the principal subjects of The Lobbyists, a bestseller by Jeffrey Birnbaum, now a writer for the Washington Post.
Ken has a BA in economics from the University of Chicago, an MA in economics from Northwestern University, and he has taken advanced graduate economics courses at the Universite de Paris, Johns Hopkins University and Georgetown University.
Christopher Swann
Economist
Bureau of Economic Analysis
Christopher Swann is an economist at the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). He writes the article, “GDP and the Economy” for the monthly publication, Survey of Current Business, and develops research and communications on NIPA and industry topics. Before joining BEA he was a senior consultant and economist at Global Insight, Inc in the macro and international areas, and in telecommunications industry analysis. He began his career at Bell Atlantic (Verizon) where he was engaged in regulatory, corporate planning, product management, and business research. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Washington University, St. Louis, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Economics from Temple University in Philadelphia. He is a Past President of the Philadelphia Chapter, a Past Chair of the NABE Technology Roundtable, and currently serves as a member of the NABE Board of Directors.
Shelly Smith
Economist
Bureau of Economic Analysis
Shelly Smith is an economist with the National Income and Wealth Division (NIWD) of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce (USDOC). She began working at BEA in May of 1997. At BEA, she serves as a member of the team responsible for the review and analysis of the quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) estimates. Prior to joining NIWD, Ms. Smith was an economist with the Federal Branch of BEA’s Government Division where she developed estimates of several components of the government accounts, including Federal Government spending on research and development and the current surplus of Federal Government enterprises.
Ms. Smith received her Masters Degree in Applied Economics from the Johns Hopkins University, and her Bachelor’s Degree in International Studies and in Economics from Frostburg State University in western Maryland.
Charles Steindel
Senior Vice President
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Charles Steindel is a Senior Vice President in the Macroeconomic and Monetary Studies Function. He oversees the Group's analysis and forecasts of U.S. economic conditions. His research interests include consumer spending and saving and productivity growth. He has served as president of the Money Marketeers of New York University and the Forecasters Club of New York. He received his bachelor's degree from Emory University and his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
His fields of interest include: Chain weighting measuring gdp, Consumer behavior, Cycle capital spending balance sheet, Growth and Productivity, Inflation estimates productivity growth, Investment, Manufacturing, Private saving, Productivity growth, Saving, Saving economic growth, Stock market consumption, Tax rebate.
Jeff Werling
Executive Director
Inforum
Jeff Werling is Executive Director of Inforum, a research unit with in the Department of Economics at the University of Maryland College Park. Since its founding 40 years ago, Inforum has been dedicated to improving business planning, government policy analysis, and the general understanding of the economic environment. Inforum pioneered the construction and use of dynamic general equilibrium models for the United States and other countries.
Returning to Inforum in 2003, Jeff manages the day-to-day activity at Inforum and serves as principle investigator for special projects applying Inforum modeling systems. In 2005 he completed a study for the International Trade Administration on the trade and economic impacts of currency fluctuations using the Inforum Bilateral Trade Model. Jeff also teaches an undergraduate course in economic development. Previously, he held positions as an international and industry economist with the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), the Manufacturers Alliance (MAPI), and the WEFA Group (now Global Insight). Jeff received a PhD in economics from the University of Maryland in 1992.
Richard L. Wobbekind
University of Colorado at Boulder
Richard L. Wobbekind is Associate Dean for MBA and Enterprise Programs, Associate Professor of Business Economics and Finance, and Executive Director of the Business Research Division at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
As Executive Director of the Business Research Division his responsibilities include developing an annual consensus forecast of the Colorado economy and performing various strategic analyses and economic impact assessments of the Colorado economy. His most recent work includes an affordable housing study. Rich also produces a quarterly economic indicator series for Boulder County and a quarterly Business Leader Confidence Index for the Colorado.
He participates annually in the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank Regional Economic Roundtable, and is a contributor to the Western Blue Chip forecast newsletter and the National Association of Business Economists Economic Policy Survey. Professor Wobbekind was appointed to the board of the National Association for Business Economists in 2006. Rich is a member of the Governor’s Revenue Estimating Advisory Committee, the Denver Regional Council of Government’s Forecast 2030 Advisory Committee, the Colorado Tourism Office Education and Research Advisory Committee, the Boulder Economic Council, the Boulder Redevelopment Authority and the Center for the American West.
For his efforts in community development and outreach, Rich was awarded the University of Colorado Community Outreach Award in 1997. In 2002 he was named a Member of Distinction by the Boulder Chamber of Commerce. In 2006 he received the Robert L. Stearns award for lifetime excellence in research, teaching and service to the University of Colorado.
Dr. Wobbekind teaches MBA, undergraduate and executive students in macroeconomics, public policy and entrepreeneurship. He has received four awards for teaching excellence from the students of the Leeds School. Dr. Wobbekind received a BA in Economics from Bucknell University and an MA and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
