On Tuesday, September 28, the title of the conference is “The workforce of the future,” the location is the Ronald Reagan Building, and the sponsor is the National Journal. The keynote speaker is supposed to be National Economic Council director Larry Summers, who just announced that he is leaving the Administration. Martin Baily is an (the?) other person on the panel who might have something to say that would interest me.

On Thursday, September 30, the title of the conference is “The MIddle Class and the 21st Century Work Force,” the location is–er, maybe I should not disclose?–and the sponsor is The Atlantic. There is a large, diverse panel (even I am on it). I am totally in the dark about what the format will be, but dividing the total time by the number of panelists, my reading is that each of us gets about 90 seconds. It is entirely possible that I am not expected to speak at all–I really am that confused about what is to take place.

I don’t know how public these events are. I could not even find the second one on the web, which suggests that it is not public.