Support Section, plus the Tech horn,” but simply to say that SOI to make continual improvements
and DPS teams. Eventually, the provided me with an abundance in everything we do.
staff grew so large that it was split of what I most sought in my Whether it was my love for
in two and Mike Leszcz became professional career—important macroeconomics (studying the
senior manager for C&P II. and interesting work, challenges, economy as a whole) or my first
SOI Director Fritz Scheuren left training and upward mobility, position as an economist at the
SOI in 1993 and was later replaced and the opportunity to fulfill my BEA, I have always tried to main-
by Dan Skelly, previously head of career aspirations to become—to tain a ‘big picture’ perspective.
the Foreign Statistics Branch that some degree—an expert in some This perspective helped in many
consisted of today’s Special Studies areas of taxation. ways, such as understanding our
Returns Analysis, Special Projects, In my nearly eight years at the customers’ uses of data and brief-
and Operations sections. At that Bureau of Economic Analysis ing foreign government officials,
time, I was asked to manage a new (BEA) and SSA, I was afforded as documented in several SOI
special studies and publications the opportunity to do research overview papers that I coauthored
branch that consisted of these and innovation, but I wasn’t with Scheuren and later pub-
three sections plus the Statistical given the opportunity to pub- lished in the Journal of Official
Data Section. It was once again lish findings—other than esti- Statistics, Business Economics, and
an exciting time, heading a new mates I made. However, at SOI, the Proceedings of the National
organization and, in addition to writing research papers was not Tax Association. In this work,
management duties, I was able to only allowed, it was encouraged. we described what we did at
initiate a series of studies on busi- Among the ways I personally SOI, how we did it, and why
ness organizational choice, which ensured that I would conduct we did it. We underscored the
were the forerunners of today’s research—and to push my self importance of SOI in the fed-
integrated business data. development—was to commit eral statistical system, as well as
In 1998, I began additional to authoring applied statistics in tax policy and economic and
analytical work on individual papers. I did so some 60+ times, demographic research.
income and tax distributions and that, as much as anything I feel strongly that SOI must
with Mike Strudler and my son, else, was the ‘icing on the cake’ understand its important roles in
Ryan Petska, that continue to this in terms of my job satisfaction. the federal statistics community
day. Some of the research high- writing and presenting papers and the research community, in
lights in both areas include sev- at professional meetings may not general. Administrative data from
eral papers we presented at con- be what gets you up in the morn- tax and information returns are
ferences of the ASA, American ing, but—as I have said on many too valuable a resource for SOI
Economic Association (AEA), occasions—I hope all of SOI’s and a limited number of key cus-
and National Tax Association, current staff can find something tomers to monopolize access to,
as well as local meetings of the in their work that is fun, exciting, so continued efforts need to be
Tax Economist Forum and and even inspirational, because made to assist additional users, as
Washington Statistical Society. SOI needs a core of multidisci- well as to explore means to legally
I helped organize a session at plined, team-oriented visionaries expand access.
the January 1996 AEA meetings to ensure we stay ahead of the A big picture perspective has
that included my business organi- curve and adapt to future chal- also been helpful as we have fre-
zational choice work, which was lenges to stay effective, efficient, quently revisited our vision, mis-
scheduled for the Sunday after- and relevant. sion, and goals and developed a
noon when the “Blizzard of ’96” My 28 years at SOI, and par- strategic plan for the future, SOI
hit the east Coast, leaving me ticularly my eight years in the 2016. The initial iteration of the
stranded in San Francisco for a director’s office, could be appro- plan was a vision of SOI in 2016,
few days (at government expense). priately described as something which we followed with three-
I also organized an income and akin to Disney’s “Mister Toad’s year operational plans.
wealth distribution session for Wild Ride” or the Grateful Dead’s A historical perspective is
AEA in New York City in 1999, album “What a Long, Strange something I also believe is impor-
presenting our latest income dis- Trip It’s Been.” But, in all seri- tant. Although today’s SOI was
tribution data. The session was in ousness, my approach to leading created by the 16th Amendment
memory of my late SSA colleague SOI has been dominated by seek- to the Constitution in 1916, my
Dan Radner. ing the big picture, maintaining a detailed knowledge goes back to
I have summarized some of my historical perspective, and striving just the 1960s and 1970s, and
SOI highlights, not to “blow my much of that earlier history is
JUNE 2009 AmstAt News 53
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