mr. thorndike: there is a private-sector story to be told there. in the early 30's of late 20's, there's a rise of an identifiable tax court. there is a meaningful community of tax lawyers that starts developing in the 20's and 30's. mcgill is a leader in that. and there's also a recognition that lawyers and economists need to find a way to work together efficiently. and so, one of the more illuminating comments i've ever heard on this topic came from an economist who worked in the treasury department in the same years. he told me that the greatest regret he ever had was not going to law school. and he seriously considered it, even while serving in the because they could see even then that the crucial decisions were going to be made by the lawyers and accountants together. literature out there on professional expertise. and this community of experts that grows up and really takes off in the 40's and 50's they are an unusual blend of economists, lawyers, and what i would call economically minded lawyers who dominate the process. >>> ok, will thank y

mr. thorndike: that's a good question. mr. yin: at some point, the wrecking mission and congress was that it was lawyers and economists were the two main professional, counsel also. the main professionals that need to be on the staff. they have the kind of expertise that the staff -- the commerce really relies on. parker was unusual because he did start out with a law degree and without an economics degree. he was an engineer, a very well trained engineer, but an engineer. the reason that he came about was he had been the chief investigator of the cousins investigation committee that had been investigating all of the problems that the bureau of internal revenue had with, among other things, the depletion allowance. the rule of the time required you to value the natural resource discovery. required a valuation engineer, that was parker. he had done that. in 1926, that investigation ends, the joint committee is created, parker seven note to somebody he knows in congress and says would you consider me to be on the staff? green,nn