Annual Meeting:  Addressing Future Changes, Celebrating 50 Years

Meeting in the nation’s capital as it celebrates its 50th year, NABE will focus on “Addressing Future Economic Challenges” during its annual meeting set for Oct. 5-7. Top policymakers, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, will address attendees over three packed days of general and concurrent sessions.

Early registration has begun for the meeting at the JW Marriott, across the street from the U.S. Treasury Department, in downtown Washington, D.C.  Among the most popular features, the meeting will offer networking opportunities, small group dinners, receptions and a final debate between top economic advisers to presidential candidates of both major parties.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is the meeting’s honorary chair.  A long-time NABE member who served as president in 1969-70, he is currently president of Greenspan Associates LLC.  In his letter to members, Greenspan pointed out that while antitrust issues were high on the agenda of the first annual meeting in 1959, “today the issues may be different but are no less compelling.” 

In addition to Bernanke, speakers already confirmed for the annual meeting include:  Edward Lazear, chairman, President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers; Sheila Bair, chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Peter Orszag, director, Congressional Budget Office; Lawrence Summers, former U.S Treasury secretary; Robert Hall, Stanford University and chairman of the NBER’s Business Cycle Dating Committee; Lawrence Kotlikoff, Boston University; Steve Liesman, CNBC; John Tarnoff, Dreamworks Animation; and David Wessel, the Wall St. Journal.

Michael Mussa, Peterson Institute for International Economics, will receive the Adam Smith Award, NABE’s highest honor, and deliver the Adam Smith address at the annual meeting. 

Lynn Reaser, Bank of America Investment Strategies Group, and Kevin Kliesen, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, are co-chairs of the organizing committee for the annual meeting.

Annual meeting sessions will focus on:

• Knowledge and skills for the 21st century labor force
• Innovative public policies for human capital
• Globalization forces—are they irreversible?
• Immigration restrictions and how they affect the economy, industries
• Central bank policies—are they underestimating the inflation threat?
• Government health care policies—new initiatives vs. doing nothing

Also on tap will be skills sessions on communications and financial engineering, a report from NABE’s latest survey on the economic outlook, discussions on topical issues by Roundtables, a reception at the Embassy of China and the FDIC, and optional Saturday evening dinner.

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.

Watch for the meeting brochure in the mail.