| Issue Three September 2004 | | Print | |
Contents
FROM THE NTA PRESIDENT-President's Message A major strength of the National Tax Association is its interdisciplinary membership. In a world that is increasingly specialized and segmented into homogeneous groups (e.g., 500+ cable TV channels, niche associations), it is important to have a forum and network where professionals with different training can advance the state of knowledge together. Many major advances have been where different specialties have combined forces to fill in gaps of our knowledge. Our recent NTA membership survey revealed the interdisciplinary training of our members. Almost one in five NTA members has received formal training in more than one discipline! Although economists are the largest group, more than half of the members cite non-economics training: 14% accountants, 5% business administration, 12% law, 15% public policy, and 5% other. An excellent opportunity for networking with our diverse membership, including members from 24 countries, is our Annual Conference on November 11-13. The program committee has put together an excellent program, and there is nothing like the face-to-face meetings in the hallways and being able to ask your specific questions to really learn of and about new issues and research findings. We have formed new committees for two important initiatives. The first is an NTA Committee on Student Membership, led by Matt Murray and Sally Wallace. Another committee is being formed to prepare for the 100th Anniversary of the Association in 2007. If you are interested in helping on either of these two new committees, please contact Joan Casey at Natltax@aol.com. This is an excellent opportunity to have fun and help the Association. Tax policy continues to be a predominant issue in our national affairs, and there is no more important time for the NTA’s mission of “fostering the study and discussion of complex and controversial issues of tax theory, practice and policy.” That study and discussion is enhanced by the NTA’s interdisciplinary membership and focus. Let’s celebrate our diversity as well as our common goal of “sound tax policy and wise administration.” Tom Neubig Welcome to Minneapolis Dear NTA Colleagues, On behalf of the National Tax Association Board of Directors and the Program Committee, it is my pleasure to invite you to Minneapolis for the 97th Annual Conference on Taxation, November 11-13, 2004. Join us to share ideas on today’s top public finance issues, drawing on the most advanced thinking and research by NTA colleagues. The program is outstanding, thanks to the work by Program Chair Laura Kalambokidis of the University of Minnesota and the Program Committee. There is definitely something for everyone, whether your interests are international, national, state, local, or intergovernmental - just take a look at the Program at a Glance. We are excited to host NTA in Minneapolis, which has been called the jewel of the Midwest. The city is friendly and vivacious, with an energetic downtown bustling day and night. And the Mississippi River winds through it. The Marriott City Center is connected by skyway to 62 blocks - you never have to worry about the weather. Nicollet Mall, major shopping venues (City Center Mall, Marshall Field’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Brooks Brothers, to name a few), and dozens of restaurants are right at your fingertips. Then there are the Hennepin Avenue Theater District, Block E and Warehouse District dining and entertainment areas, and the Target Center and HHH Metrodome for concerts and sports - a truly eclectic mix. If you prefer museums, there are 35 of them, with major collections currently at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Weisman Art Museum. There’s more culture at the Guthrie Lab, the Minnesota Opera, and the Minnesota Orchestra. Minutes away is the capital city of St. Paul, home to the noted Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, the Science Museum of Minnesota, the Minnesota Children’s Museum, and many new restaurants. Register Now! Participating in the Annual Conference is one of the best ways to get the full benefit of your NTA membership. And Minneapolis is a great place to do that. Sincerely,  Daniel A. Salomone Chair, Local Arrangements 97th Annual Conference Highlights Thursday, November 11 · David Wessel of the Wall Street Journal will address the Conference luncheon. · Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Awards will be presented to Joshua Rauh, MIT, and Fernando Ferreira, Berkeley; and Honorable Mention to Peter Katuščák, University of Michigan. · Charles E. McLure, Jr., will receive the Daniel M. Holland Medal at the Annual Meeting, following a special session honoring his work, with Richard Bird, Walter Hellerstein and George Zodrow. · The Reception will honor Dr. McLure. Friday, November 12 · Hon. George Latimer of Macalester College, former Mayor of Saint Paul, will address the luncheon to lead off a commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the path-braking Minnesota State Tax Study Commission. · Daniel A. Salomone, Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue, will moderate a session on Minnesota Issues and National Perspectives, with panelists Thomas Downes, David Sjoquist, Steven Sheffrin, and Leslie Papke. · The Reception will continue the Minnesota celebration. Chicago FED/NTA The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and NTA presented a conference entitled State and Local Business Taxation: Is There a Better Way? on September 13 in Chicago. Richard Mattoon of the Chicago Fed (and an NTA member) organized the conference. A number of other NTA members also participated in the program. The conference agenda and the PowerPoint presentations of the speakers are available at here. Rick Mattoon’s summary of the conference will be available on the website soon. State Fiscal Analysis Initiative Connects with NTA The State Fiscal Analysis Initiative is a network of state-level nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations that blend careful analysis of state tax and budget issues with a high level of engagement in policy debates. Although the organizations share a particular focus on the impact of budget choices on low-income families and other vulnerable populations, most also work on a broader range of issues relating to the adequacy, equity, stability, and transparency of state budget and tax systems. SFAI groups are committed to broadening public participation in the decision making about public policies, and they are also committed to improving the quality of the information available to policymakers in fiscal decision making. The Initiative was launched in 1993 with 12 state groups as members, and has since grown to include nonprofit organizations in 24 states. (A full listing may be found at www.statefiscal.org.) Funding for SFAI groups typically comes from local, regional and national foundations as well as individual donors. The network is coordinated by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a national research organization and policy institute. SFAI groups are recognized for their expertise in tax and budget issues, for the clear and accessible nature of their analyses, and for their intimate involvement in the fiscal policy debates of the moment. They typically have strong relationships with state revenue departments and legislative fiscal staff, university-based researchers, policymakers from both sides of the aisle, nonprofit and advocacy organizations, and other tax research groups. They look forward to further strengthening these ties through their participation in the National Tax Association. NTA at ASSA-Details Donald Bruce, University of Tennessee Knoxville, organized the NTA-sponsored session for the ASSA / American Economic Association Meetings, January 7-9, 2005, Philadelphia, Marriott Hotel. The session - Behavioral Responses to Tax Policies: Empirical Evidence - will be held on January 7 at 2:30 PM. in Room 310. NTA members on the panel include Karie Barbour, Illinois State University; James Alm, Georgia State University; Mark Skidmore, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater; Karen Smith Conway, University of New Hampshire; Jonathan Rork, Vassar College; Sarah West, Macalester College; Reagan Baughman, University of New Hampshire; and Karen Pence, Federal Reserve Board of Governors. New Members Shuja Akram, Houston, TX Paul C. Bishop, National Assoc. of Realtors, Washington DC David Blatt, Community Action Project, Tulsa, OK Randy Casey, Ashland Group L.P., Houston, TX Won Ick Choi, Dankook University, South Korea Steve Dean, DAI Management Consultants, Bridgeville, PA Manuel del Valle, New Mexico Tax Research Institute, Albuquerque Victor Elias, Child and Family Policy Center, Des Moines, IA Alan Essig, Georgia Budget & Policy Institute, Atlanta Jean Gerstner, Wisconsin Department of Revenue, Madison Bryant R. Howe, Office of Legis. Res. & General Counsel, Salt Lake City, UT J. Barlow LeVold, University of Illinois, Chicago Jenny Ligthart, University of Tilburg, Netherlands Duncan McQueen, Platte City, MO Kay Monaco, New Mexico Voices for Children, Albuquerque Pamela Moomau, Joint Comm. on Taxation, Washington DC Jeff Ng, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Kelly O’Donnell, New Mexico Voices for Children, Albuquerque Sheldon Presser, Association for Children of New Jersey,Newark Angie Rodgers, DC Fiscal Policy Institute, Washington, DC Monica Singhal, NBER, Cambridge, MA Daniel L. Smith, University of Georgia, Athens Douglas O. Stewart, Cleveland State University, OH Wade P. Webster, Houston, TX Noel Wisegarver, US Tax Credits, San Diego, CA Mark Zaifman, Spiritus Financial Planning, Santa Rosa, CA Members on the Move Jon Bajika, Williams College Karie Barbour, Illinois State University Deborah Carroll, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Waheeda Bahman Choudhury, Board of Revenue, Bangladesh John Diamond, Baker Institute, Rice University Kelly Edmiston, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Alexander Gelardi, University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis William Gentry, Williams College Masatoshi Katagiri, London School of Economics Andrew Lyon, PricewaterhouseCoopers Janet McCubbin, Statistics of Income Division, IRS Bruce Meyer, Harris School, University of Chicago Paul McDaniel, College of Law, University of Florida Benno Torgler, Yale Center for International & Area Studies William Voorhees, Arizona State University Randall Weiss, New York City Economic Development Corp. Roberton Williams, III, University of Texas, Austin Robert Yetman, Graduate School of Management, University of California Davis Please send information about your recent promotions, organization changes, etc., to natltax@aol.com 2005 IRS Research Conference Call for Papers The Internal Revenue Service will hold the 2005 IRS Research Conference on June 7-8 at the Hotel Washington in Washington DC. General topics of interest include tax compliance, taxpayer burden, and tax administration. For more information visit here. Presenters and discussants who are not government employees will receive funding for travel and honoraria. A conference proceedings volume will be published. For proposed papers, please submit: title, abstract not more than one page; names and affiliations for all authors; e-mail address and phone number for at least one contact author. Proposals for complete sessions of three papers, a session organizer, and a discussant are also invited. Submissions are requested by November 1, 2004. Acceptances will be announced by December 1. E-mail submission to this e-mail with “proposed paper” in the subject line. Mail submissions go to Janet McCubbin, Statistics of Income Division, P.O. Box 2608, Washington, DC 20013-2608. If you would like to discuss co-authoring a paper with an IRS researcher, volunteering as a discussant, or other avenues for conference participation, please contact the conference co-chairs, Janet McCubbin and Alan Plumley, at this e-mail. POSITIONS AVAILABLE
YOUR NTA BOARD AND STAFF WORKING FOR YOU |
NTA Contact Information
725 15th St. NW #600
Washington DC 20005-2109
Tel: (202) 737-3325
Fax: (202) 737-7308
E-mail: natltax@aol.com
Contact NTA