Randy Weiss formerly oversaw research projects at The Conference Board, which he joined in 2009. His tax policy work began with a stint (1977-89) at the Joint Committee on Taxation, which provides economic and legal analysis for the tax-writing committees of the Congress. As Deputy Chief of Staff, he served as the highest ranking staff economist for these committees and was a leading staff architect of the landmark Tax Reform Act of 1986. He next served as a tax principal at Deloitte & Touche, where he worked on various tax policy projects, including a comparative tax reform study for China's Finance Ministry and a 2001 reform of the Railroad Retirement system. In 2004, he became Chief Economist for New York City Economic Development Corporation, where he evaluated the economic and fiscal impact of citywide development initiatives and advised on business tax policies. He received his A.B. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from Harvard University and served on the faculty of the University of Maryland.