William G. Gale, Director

J. Mark Iwry, Principal

David John, Principal

William G. Gale

William Gale is vice president and director of the Economic Studies Program at Brookings and the Arjay and Frances Miller Chair in Federal Economic Policy.  He conducts research on a variety of economic issues, focusing particularly on tax policy, fiscal policy, pensions and saving behavior.  He is co-director of the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute.  He is also director of the Retirement Security Project, an initiative supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts, in partnership with Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute and Brookings.

Gale attended Duke University and the London School of Economics and received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1987.

Prior to joining Brookings in 1992, he was an assistant professor in the Department of Economics at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a senior staff economist for the Council of Economic Advisers under President George H.W. Bush.

He is the co-author or co-editor of several books, including Taxing the Future:  Fiscal Policy in the Bush Administration (Brookings, forthcoming 2007); Aging Gracefully:  Ideas to Improve Retirement Security in America (Century Foundation, 2006); The Evolving Pension System:  Trends, Effects, and Proposals for Reform (Brookings, 2005); Private Pensions and Public Policy (Brookings, 2004); Rethinking Estate and Gift Taxation (Brookings, 2001), and Economic Effects of Fundamental Tax Reform (Brookings, 1996).

He has also written numerous scholarly research articles, including publications in the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, and Quarterly Journal of Economics, and has served as editor and editorial board member of several academic journals.  He has also written extensively in policy-related publications and newspapers.

Gale has served on advisory boards for the Government Accountability Office, the Internal Revenue Service, the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Board of the Center on Federal Financial Institutions. 

 He lives in Fairfax, Virginia, with his wife Julie, who is a psychologist, their children Danny, 17, and Becca, 14, and two golden retrievers.

J. Mark Iwry

Mark Iwry is a Principal to the The Retirement Security Project and Nonresident Senior Fellow at Brookings. He was the Benefits Tax Counsel at the U.S. Treasury Department (1995-2001), serving as the principal Executive Branch official directly responsible for tax policy and regulation relating to the nation's tax-qualified pension and 401(k) plans and other employee benefits. He also practices law with the firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, specializing in pensions, compensation and benefits, is a Research Professor in Public Policy at Georgetown University, and serves as outside counsel to AARP on pensions.

Mr. Iwry has testified before various congressional committees' representing the Treasury and Executive Branch and, since leaving government, testifying as an independent expert. He was previously a partner in the law firm of Covington & Burling, and has chaired the D.C. Bar Employee Benefits Committee, co-authored a volume on 401(k) plans, served on the White House Task Force on Health Care Reform, addressed more than 200 professional, industry and other groups in the US and abroad, and serves on panels of experts advising the General Accounting Office, the National Academy of Social Insurance, and other public- and private-sector organizations on pensions and retirement savings.

A principal architect of the Saver's Credit to expand 401(k) and IRA coverage of middle- and lower-income workers (claimed in 2002 on 5.3 million tax returns) and the "SIMPLE" 401(k)-type plan (covering an estimated 2 million workers), Mr. Iwry was also centrally involved in developing the sweeping Presidential proposals to expand coverage through "Universal Savings Accounts"¯ and related provisions (1999-2000). He also was instrumental in improving oversight of the PBGC by its Board of Directors and the Executive Branch. Mr. Iwry initiated or orchestrated many other major improvements and simplifications of the nation's pension system and benefits law and regulation, such as repeal of the complex section 415(e) combined limit on pension benefits, simplification and liberalization of IRA and employer plan minimum distribution rules, new incentives for immediate 401(k) participation, and development of workable rules for pension portability, anti-cutback relief, 401(k) safe harbor plans, benefits in corporate transactions, new comparability, COBRA, health care portability, Social Security, taxation of deferred compensation, and cafeteria/flexible benefit plans.

While in government, Mr. Iwry was widely recognized for his work with the business, financial, professional and nonprofit communities to expand coverage while simplifying and rationalizing pension and benefits law. In 2001 he received the Secretary of the Treasury's Exceptional Service Award "in recognition of his outstanding leadership and accomplishments." Widely respected as Treasury's benefits and pension expert, Mr. Iwry excelled at building coalitions of diverse interests. His technical acumen and leadership have garnered praise from colleagues within Treasury, the IRS, the Congress, and the employee benefits community at large.

At Treasury, he was credited with promoting an open regulatory process, actively drawing on a wide spectrum of private sector advice and feedback, including town hall meetings with benefits professionals and others around the country. In 2001 Mr. Iwry received a special award from the IRS (Office of Chief Counsel) "[i]n recognition of the collegial working relationship you have fostered between [Treasury] and the IRS Office of Chief Counsel and of your many contributions to our nation's tax system."

He regularly advises Members of Congress and congressional staff on both sides of the aisle, and his views are frequently reported in the major media and trade press. Mr. Iwry is an honors graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, has a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and is a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, and a member of the bar of the United States Supreme Court. 

David John

David John, Principal to the Retirement Security Project and a Senior Research Fellow with the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation.  He has been involved in Washington's top policy debates for almost 30 years and he continues that career as Heritage's lead analyst on issues relating to pensions, financial institutions, asset building, and Social Security reform. He has also commented on corporate governance and financial literacy.

John has written and lectured extensively on the importance of reforming the nation's retirement system. During this time, he has testified before a number of House and Senate committees on subjects ranging from Social Security and pension reform to improving the nation's flood insurance program. In 2001, he testified before the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security, providing detailed analysis of how personal retirement accounts could be structured and regulated. John also testified before the House Budget Committee's Task Force on Social Security, explaining what the costs of transitioning to a system of Social Security personal retirement accounts might be as compared to the cost of running the current program.

In addition, John has testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on issues such as steps that should be taken to improve Social Security for women and minorities, how to increase the information that the public can receive about Social Security programs, and how the United Kingdom's pension system operates. He also testified before both the Senate Special Committee on Aging and the House Education and the Workforce Committee on proposals to strengthen the funding of defined benefit pension plans.

John has been published and quoted extensively in many major publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Washington Post, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Times, Forbes, Business Week, and USA Today. He has also appeared on CBS News, NBC News, CNN, MSNBC, the Fox News Channel, BBC radio, and many other national and syndicated radio and television shows.

John came to The Heritage Foundation from the office of Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C. John was the lead author of Rep. Sanford's plan to reform Social Security by setting up a system of personal retirement accounts. John's Capitol Hill service also includes stints in the offices of Reps. Matt Rinaldo, R-N.J., and Rep. Doug Barnard Jr., D-Ga. While working for Barnard, John helped write one of the first bills that would have eliminated restrictions on banks to sell securities and insurance. He also authored a bill in 1981 that restarted the national commemorative coin program.

In the private sector, John was a Vice President specializing in public policy development at The Chase Manhattan Bank in New York. In addition, he worked for three years as Director of Legislative Affairs at the National Association of Federal Credit Unions, and worked as a senior legislative consultant for the Washington law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.

John earned a bachelor's degree in journalism, an MBA in finance, and a master's degrees in economics from the University of Georgia in Athens.