Robert Dietz, Ph.D. is the Chief Economist for NAHB, where he leads a team of 12 economists whose 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 topics. He is the nation’s leading analyst of the residential construction industry. Dr. Dietz 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. He is a member of the Blue Chip, Wall Street Journal and other top national forecasting panels, has co-chaired the National Association for Business Economics construction/real estate group, and is commonly cited on CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and NPR. Prior to joining NAHB in 2005, Robert worked as an economist for the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation where he estimated the federal budget impact of tax law changes associated with housing and real estate issues. He is a native of Dayton, Ohio, attended George Washington University as an undergraduate and earned a Ph.D. in Economics from The Ohio State University in 2003.