Wheaton, Ill., Feb. 14, 2008—W. Michael Cox, chief economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, will be the keynote speaker at the second annual "Main Event" conference of the American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS), April 20-22 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Cox, dubbed a "Prophet of Boom" by one national magazine, is a renowned proponent of free market capitalism who authors the Dallas Fed's annual reports on rising American living standards. Cox's findings are reported extensively in major publications, and he is a frequent guest on national media programs. At the AAIS Main Event, Cox will speak on "Ten Important Long-Term Trends in the Economy."

AAIS is a national advisory organization that develops policy forms and rating information used by more than 600 property/casualty insurers throughout the U.S. The Main Event is an executive conference devoted to product-related issues of strategic importance to P/C carriers.

The 2008 Main Event features several other outside speakers, in addition to Cox:

• Josh Greenbaum, an attorney with the firm Cozen O'Connor, will speak on "Hazardous Imports and Products Liability."

• Jeff Kucera, consulting actuary with EMB America, will speak on "The Growth and Evolution of Rating Variables."

• Robert Parisi, Marsh USA's national practice leader for network risk, technology, and telecommunications, will speak on "Underwriting E-commerce Insurance."

• Robert Healy, senior vice president of ABS Consulting, which owns the catastrophe modeling firm EQECAT, will speak on "Catastrophe Modeling."

In addition, there will be presentations by AAIS staff, a panel of company CEOs, and roundtable discussions on topics in personal, commercial, and farm insurance, as well as a roundtable devoted to issues for executives.