2008 SGE Board Elections
This page contains the names and biographies of those wishing to run for the next SGE Board. SGE members may vote once. Please vote for one (1) candidate for each President, Vice President and Secretary. Please also vote for any additionl five (5) candidates for the Board. All votes should be emailed to Bill Lawhorn at Lawhorn.William@bls.gov. Votes are due by 5pm on Friday, May 16, 2008.
President
Candidate: Brian Sloboda, USPS
Bio:
I am pretty excited to be nominated as president for the Society of Government Economists (SGE) since there were many exciting events this past year in SGE: more SGE events at ASSA in New Orleans, the evening seminar series, the upcoming conference in June, and SGE/NEC Monthly Luncheons. During my term as vice president, I continue to discover that SGE is a strong grassroots organization which provides excellent opportunities for professional development for federal and nonfederal economists. Currently, I am a pricing economist with US Postal Service and a former economist in the U.S. Department of Transportation and was Bureau of Economic Analysis in the U.S. Department of Commerce. Utilizing my experiences from serving as committee member for the Federal Forecasters Consortium and serving on the board of directors for the Pennsylvania Economics Association, I can facilitate and further promote the efforts of SGE members and demonstrate the important role of government economists in policy-making. I would also like to work with the SGE Board to continue the efforts of increasing membership and to promote SGE throughout the economics community by forming partnerships with other economics organizations and having SGE activities that will enhance the professional development of economists and others involved in public policy.
Vice President
Candidate: Steven Payson, NIH/BEA
Bio:
I would be honored to serve as next year's Vice President of the Society of Government Economists. I have belonged to SGE for several years. I organized an SGE session back in 2001 at the AEA meetings, and I presented a paper at an SGE/AEA session in 2006. This past year I served on the SGE Board as Executive Secretary, and I helped organize the SGE conference.
I have been a government economist for over 16 years, at the Department of Agriculture for over four years, the National Science Foundation for seven years, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis for over five years. I am currently on a temporary assignment as a Fellow working in the Director's Office of the National Institutes for Health, and will be returning to BEA in July. At BEA I am Chief of Research for the Government Division; and was formerly Chief of the Special Studies Branch.
Before entering the government, I was an economic consultant for four years at ICF Incorporated, and a research associate at the Inter-American Development Bank for another four years. I received my doctorate in economics from Columbia University in 1991. Some of my accomplishments include my writing, Quality Measurement in Economics (Edward Elgar, 1994) and Economics, Science and Technology (Edward Elgar 2000). On the side, I have taught economics classes as an adjunct professor at American University, Georgetown. Marymount, and Trinity College.
In my studies and writing I have explored interdisciplinary topics between economics and science policy, and I have studied, in a variety of ways, the topic of leadership in economics. As the SGE Vice President, I would help government economists receive greater recognition and respect for the work they do. I believe strongly that our work benefits society substantially, and this should be better realized both within and outside the economics profession. One of the main responsibilities of the VP is to organize speaking events. From my diverse experience and contacts in the profession, I would bring in a wide range of interesting speakers, which would help to promote SGE as a leading economic association.
Secretary
Candidate: Ignez Tristao, CBO
Bio:
Board Members
Candidate: Kevin Moore, Federal Reserve Board
Bio:
Kevin Moore is an economist working on the Survey of Consumer Finances at the Federal Reserve Board. Mr. Moore received his Ph.D. in economics from the Johns Hopkins University. His research areas include labor economics and public finance, specifically issues related to self-employment, entrepreneurs, labor supply and income tax policies. Other research interests include issues related to household portfolios, income and wealth inequality and sample surveys.
Candidate: Mark Ledbetter, BEA
Bio:
Mark Ledbetter is an economist for the Bureau of Economic Analysis
(BEA). He has worked at BEA for the past seven years; of which the last
five years, he worked on improving the personal income - adjusted gross
income reconciliation tables and articles, personal tax liabilities and
payments article, and the Biomedical Research and Development Price
Index (BRDPI) under contract with the National Institute of Health.
Recently, Mark organized and presented a session, "Measuring Income and
Taxation" with the SGE for the 2008 AEA/ASSA annual conference in New
Orleans. Mark also worked on the U.S. direct investment abroad
statistics at BEA. Prior to BEA, Mark Ledbetter worked at the US Census
Bureau for two years and a year at Census. At the Census Bureau, he
worked on improving the "information technology" related services and
consulting industries for the 2002 North American Industry
Classification System. He also worked on Phase I, II, and III of the
North American Product Classification System while working at both
Census and BEA. Mark has had several publications in BEA's Survey of
Current Business and is a member of the Tax Economist Forum. He also
manages his own limited liability company, World Herpafauna LLC,
involved in international trade and retail/wholesale operations
domestically.
Candidate: Henry M. "JH" Bahn, USDA
Bio:
Henry M. “JH” Bahn is National Program Leader for Marketing and Trade at the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. He has been with USDA for 21 years, providing national direction and leadership in the Research, Education, and Economics mission of the USDA, serving in various capacities as a National Program Leader, Director of Higher Education Programs, and Senior Economist in Planning and Accountability. He is a founding member and current president of the USDA Economists Group. He holds membership in the International Assn. of Agricultural Economists, American Agricultural Economics Assn., Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Assn., Western Agricultural Economics Assn., and Southern Agricultural Economics Assn.
Prior to joining the USDA team, Bahn held agricultural economics faculty positions at University of Idaho, University of Massachusetts, and Montana State University, conducting applied research, teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and managing extension economics programs primarily in marketing and trade. His international experience includes work in Poland, Egypt, Brazil, and India and he has collaborated extensively with foreign officials, faculty and leaders on topics ranging from marketing and risk management policy and programs to restructuring national extension and outreach agencies. Bahn has prepared 12 journal articles and approximately 100 peer reviewed Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension publications. He earned his Ph.D. from Penn State; his B.S. and M.S. degrees are from University of Maryland.
His goal as an SGE Director would be to promote integration and collaboration between economists throughout the federal government, and to enhance the value and use of the work of economists in the conduct of government business.
Candidate: John Sporing, Jr., BEA
Bio:
John Sporing is currently the Assistant to the Chief in the Regional Economic Analysis Division (READ). He received his BBA in finance from the University of Texas, San Antonio, an MA in economics from St. Mary’s University of Texas, and pursued his Ph.D. in economics at American University. John has been with BEA for over 15 years. During that time, John has worked on the GDP by Industry accounts, the National Input/Output table, the National Income and Products Accounts, where he was heavily involved in the development of STATS—the new GDP estimation system. In his current position, John assists with the daily management and administrative tasks for READ. These tasks include everything from budgets and travel to human resource issues.
John continues to do research and has written several working papers for BEA dealing with price measures and regional economics. He is active in Regional Science organizations, having presented papers at Southern, Western, and North American Regional Science conferences, as well as serving as the Co-Executive Director for the Southern Regional Science Association. He oversees three employee-oriented educational series for the directorate: The Regional Reading Series, The Regional Research Group, and the Lowell D. Ashby Regional Speaker Series. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Council for Excellence in Government.
Candidate: Andrew Felton, FDIC
Bio:
I am a Financial Economist at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, where I analyze risk in the economy and banking system. I previously worked as a Senior Research Analyst at the Brookings Institution, where I focused on issues like inequality, development, and social norms. I am enrolled in the Ph.D. program in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland and have an M.A. in economics from Tufts University and a B.A. from Carleton College. My goals are to continue SGE’s impressive record of thought-provoking lectures and discussions and to further expand its membership. I hope to serve on the SGE Board because I enjoy being part of and want to contribute to the larger community of economists and policy analysts.