David Altig, North American Outlook Speaker.

David Altig is senior vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Dr. Altig also serves as an adjunct professor of economics in the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago. Dr. Altig’s research is primarily focused on monetary and fiscal policy issues. In addition to advising the Bank president on monetary policy and related matters, Dr. Altig oversees the Bank’s regional executives and the Bank’s research department.

State and Province Outlook Session.

Prominent economic analysts from around the region will review recent economic performance in the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming and the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. Speakers will also give their views on the outlook for the future.

Census Research Data Center Presentation.

Research opportunities for economist, geographers, demographers, and others will be enhanced by the recent designation of the UW as a Census Bureau Research Data Center. The potential of these centers will be demonstrated by three staff members from the Census Bureau: Ron Jarmin, Assistant Director for Research and Methodology; Lucia Foster, Chief Economist and Chief, Center for Economic Studies; and Brian Holly, Senior Research Project Coordinator, Research and Methodology.

Mark Partridge, Lunch Speaker, Friday May 18.

Mark Partridge is the Swank Chair in Rural-Urban Policy at the Department of Agriculture, Environmental, and Development Economics at The Ohio State University. His research is focused on rural-urban interdependence, explaining differences in community growth rates, and innovations in regional policy and governance. Recently he has focused on the implications of rising income disparity in the United States on economic development trends.

Peter B. Nelson, Tiebout Lecture Speaker.

Peter B. Nelson is Associate Professor of Geography at Middlebury College. This annual Tiebout Lecture honors Charles Tiebout, founder of PNREC and a pioneer in regional economics, and always features a speaker who addresses themes in Tiebout’s research. Dr. Nelson has worked on the “voting with the feet” metaphor of Charles Tiebout, primarily through research on population trends in rural America.

Christopher Sands, Canada/U.S. Energy Panelist.

Christopher Sands is a Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute, where he specializes on Canada and U.S.-Canadian relations, as well as North American economic integration. He is also a professorial lecturer at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, an adjunct professor in Government at the American University School of Public Affairs, and lectures at the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. Department of State and for the US Department of Homeland Security.