Robert D. Dietz, Ph.D., is Chief Economist for NAHB, where his responsibilities include forecasts of housing and economic trends, survey research, and home building industry and policy analysis. Dr. Dietz has published academic research on the private and social benefits of homeownership, federal tax expenditure estimation, and other housing and tax issues. He has testified before the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, and the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Economic Policy on housing, economic and tax issues. Prior to joining NAHB in 2005, Robert worked as an economist for the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. He is a native of Dayton, Ohio and earned a Ph.D. in Economics from the Ohio State University in 2003.