Roundtable discussions engage the development community on a variety of development issues. These discussions, which are typically held at HED’s offices in Washington, D.C., bring new ideas to light and help disseminate critical information.

• USAID’s Bureau of Economic Growth (EGAT) and HED convened the roundtable on economics held at the ACE, May 15-16, 2008. The catalyst and moderator behind the event was Professor Arnold Harberger of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and USAID’s Chief Economic Advisor. Dr. Harberger, renowned for his seminal research and publications on public finance and widely respected for his international role advising ministries on economic policy, invited expert economists for the purpose of contributing reflections of their experiences applying economic theory for policy and offering recommendations for more policy relevant teaching of economics. Key roundtable contributors and professors included Anne Krueger, Stanley Engerman, John Taylor, Thomas Saving, and Vito Tanzi, along with a few representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).  USAID's article about this roundtable is available online (in PDF).
  
• On June 9–11, 2008, Higher Education for Development (HED) convened a roundtable to launch a Brazil–U.S. Partnership to Strengthen Vocational and Technical Education. Educators from U.S. community colleges and Brazilian technical education centers met at the American Council on Education to learn from each other and create a sustainable and productive collaboration between the two countries. Following the discussion, Brazilian educators are visiting U.S. community colleges. As part of a bi-national exchange, U.S. community college representatives will visit Brazilian counterparts in early September 2008 to share respective experiences.  More information about this roundtable is available online.