Study
| EST. READ TIME 2 MIN.Fraser Forum - November/December 2010: Economic Freedom
In this issue:
Celebrating economic freedom
by Fred McMahon
The Fraser Institute works continuously to promote and develop economic freedom throughout the world.
Economic freedom is essential for US economic recovery
by Nathan J. Ashby
American states with the most economic freedom prior to the recession are the states that are recovering most quickly.
Is Cuba finally embracing economic freedom?
by Mark Milke
Is the Castro regime really warming up to the idea of economic freedom in Cuba?
Will recent bad policy reverse global advances in economic freedom?
by Michael Walker
A series of poor government policy decisions could negate the economic gains of the past quarter century.
Promoting economic freedom in the Arab world
by Ronald Meinardus
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom works to promote economic freedom in the Arab world.
Economic freedom, Mauritius’s launching pad
by Jean-Francois Minardi and Eric Ng Ping Cheun
For the very first time, a Sub-Saharan African country is now the ninth freest economy in the world. Read how Mauritus did it.
2010: A pivotal American election
by Alexander Moens
Both Canada and the US have a vested interested in the election of congressmen and congresswomen committed to reducing public spending.
The hard facts about BC’s minimum wage
by Niels Veldhuis and Amela Karabegovic
Raising British Columbia’s minimum wage is not an economic stimulus, but a harmful endeavour.
Trying times with Moscow
by Alan W. Dowd
North American warplanes continue to intercept Russian bombers; what does this trend mean, and how should we respond?
No end in sight
by Niels Veldhuis and Charles Lammam
Rather than end stimulus spending, the Conservatives plan to continue what they have been doing for four years: spend, spend, spend.
Subsidizing professional sports is the worst form of corporate welfare
by Mark Milke and Niels Veldhuis
Should Canadians be forced to pay to subsidize the facilities of pro-sport franchises?
Reform EI to avoid future tax hikes
by Charles Lammam and Niels Veldhuis
Without true EI reform, Canadians will face higher taxes for years to come.
Ignatieff has it backward on corporate income taxes
by Charles Lammam and Niels Veldhuis
Michael Ignatieff needs to understand that a de facto increase to corporate taxes is not the way to allow him to spend more money.
Unethical EHRs?
by Dr. Gordon Atherley
How much personal health information about identifiable Canadians should governments be allowed to consult, compile, and communicate?
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Fred McMahon
Resident Fellow, Dr. Michael A. Walker Chair in Economic FreedomFred McMahon is a Fraser Institute Resident Fellow and holder of the Dr. Michael A. Walker Chair in Economic Freedom.He has an M.A. in Economics from McGill University. Mr. McMahon manages the Economic Freedom of the World Project and coordinates the Economic Freedom Network, an international alliance of over 100 think tank partners in about 100 nations and territories. His research focuses on global issues such as development, trade, governance and economic structure. Mr. McMahon is the author of numerous research articles and several books including, Looking the Gift Horse in the Mouth: The Impact of Federal Transfers on Atlantic Canada, which won the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award for advancing public policy debate, Road to Growth: How Lagging Economies Become Prosperous, and Retreat from Growth: Atlantic Canada and the Negative Sum Economy.He has written for numerous publications including the European Journal of Political Economy, the SAIS Journal (School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University), the Wall Street Journal, Policy Options, National Post, Time (Canada), Globe and Mail, Ottawa Citizen, and most other major Canadian newspapers. Research articles he has recently authored or co-authored include: Economic Freedom of North America, Quebec Prosperity: Taking the Next Step, The Unseen Wall: The Fraser Institute's Annual Trade Survey, and Economic Freedom of the Arab World.… Read more -
Nathan Ashby
Nathan J. Ashby is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). He obtainedhis B.A. in economics with a minor in Spanish at Utah State University and went on to receive his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from West Virginia University. He has published articles in the Southern Economic Journal, Public Choice Journal, Contemporary Economic Policy, Applied Economics Letters, and Eastern Economic Journal. His published research focuses on the impact of economic freedom on migration, inequality, and other economic outcomes. He is currently studying the impact of crime on foreign direct investment in Mexico.… Read more -
Alan Dowd
Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute -
Charles Lammam
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Niels Veldhuis
President, Fraser Institute
Niels Veldhuis serves as President of the Fraser Institute, Canada’s most influential think tank.In his over 20-plus-year career in publicpolicy, Niels has authored six books and more than 50 peer-reviewed studies on a wide range of economic topics. In 2011, he was awarded (along with his co-authors) the prestigious Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award for the best-selling book, The Canadian Century.Highly regarded for his opinions and perspectives on major economic and social issues, Niels appears regularly in the media across Canada and the United States. He has written hundreds of commentaries that have appeared in over 50 newspapers, including the Globe and Mail, Wall Street Journal, National Post, and The Economist.Known for his ability to explain matters of economics and government policy in a down-to-earth and easily understood manner, Niels travels widely across North America. His speaking engagements extend to diverse audiences, including business groups, corporate gatherings, community organizations, and students.Niels has had the privilege of sharing the stage and moderating discussions with prominent business and political leaders from around the world. Notable individuals include Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and BC Premier Gordon Campbell. He has also moderated discussions with distinguished Canadian journalists such as Chantal Herbert, Andrew Coyne, and Rex Murphy, as well as diplomats such as Canada’s Ambassador to China and Israel’s Ambassador to Canada. Niels moderated a discussion between United States Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush in 2011 and has facilitated conversations with impactful authors like Mosab Hassan Yousef (author of "Son of Hamas") and Lord Conrad Black.Niels Veldhuis is an alumnus of Simon Fraser University, was one of Vancouver’s Top 40 under 40 by Business in Vancouver in 2010, and is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO).… Read more -
Michael Walker
Fraser Institute Founder and Honorary DirectorMichael Walker was the executive director of the Fraser Institute from its inception in 1974 until September 2005. Before thathe taught at the University of Western Ontario and Carleton and was employed at the Bank of Canada and the Federal Department of Finance. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Western Ontario and his B.A. at St. Francis Xavier University. In 2016, he was appointed to the Order of Canada in recognition of his outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the country.As an economist, he has authored or edited 45 books on economic topics. His articles on technical economic subjects have appeared in professional journals in Canada, the United States and Europe, including the Canadian Journal of Economics, the American Economic Review, the Journal of Finance, the Canadian Tax Journal, Health Management Quarterly, Weltwertschaftliches Archiv and Health Affairs. His primary concern as the founding Executive Director of the Fraser Institute has been to promote the examination and use of competitive markets as a method for enhancing the lives of Canadians.He is the co-founder, with Milton and Rose D. Friedman, of the Economic Freedom of the World project which is now a collaboration of institutes in 85 countries and produces the annual Economic Freedom of the World Index. The Index is one of the most widely cited such measures in the current academic literature.He is a director of a number of firms and other enterprises, including, Canaccord Capital, Mancal Corporation, The Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation, and the owner of the Prado Verde Estates and Falcon MHP. He is a director of The Pacific Academy for Advanced Studies which organizes the annual Alamos Alliance meetings of the Chicago Boys who have been instrumental in the economic reform process in Latin America and elsewhere.He has received the Vancouver Rotary Club Service above Self Award, the Colin M. Brown Freedom Medal and Award by the National Citizens' Coalition, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LL.D.) from The University of Western Ontario and The Thomas Jefferson Award from the Association of Private Enterprise Education.… Read more -
Alexander Moens
Professor of Political Science, Simon Fraser UniversityAlexander Moens is a professor of Political Science at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, and a former Senior Fellow inAmerican Policy at the Fraser Institute. He teaches American Foreign Policy and the Political and Security Relations between Europe and North America. He is the author of Foreign Policy Under Carter, Boulder : Westview Press, 1990, and most recently The Foreign Policy of George W. Bush: Values, Strategy, Loyalty (Aldershot, Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing, November 2004).His work on European Security includes Disconcerted Europe: The Search for a New Security Architecture (Boulder: Westview Press, 1994). Co-edited with Christopher Anstis; NATO and European Security: Alliance Politics from the Cold War's End to the Age of Terrorism (Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 2003), Co-edited with Lenard Cohen and Allen Sens; and Foreign Policy Realignment in the Age of Terror (Toronto: Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies, 2003), Co-edited with Lenard Cohen and Brian Job.In 1992, Moens served in the Policy Planning Staff of Canada's Foreign Affairs Department and in the Spring of 1999 he was a visiting fellow at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. He is also a researcher with the Council For Canadian Security in the 21st Century, and a Fellow of the Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute.… Read more -
Mark Milke
Mark Milke was a senior fellow of the Fraser Institute between 2010 and 2015. Mr. Milke led the Institute’s workon Alberta-related issues as well as contributing to a broad host of national and regional studies. Mr. Milke is currently an independent analyst and consultant in Calgary.Mr. Milke has authored four books on Canadian politics and policy and dozens of studies on topics such as property rights, public sector pensions, corporate welfare, competition policy, aboriginal matters and taxes. Prior to joining the Fraser Institute, Mr. Milke was the research director for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and former B.C. and Alberta director with the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation. His work has been published widely in Canada since 1997 and in addition to the Fraser Institute, his papers have also been published in the United States by the American Enterprise Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation and in Europe by the Brussels-based Centre for European Studies.Mr. Milke’s opinion columns appear regularly in the Calgary Herald and Globe and Mail, as well as in the National Post, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Vancouver Sun, Vancouver Province, and Victoria Times Colonist. Mr. Milke has a Master’s degree from the University of Alberta where his M.A. thesis analyzed human rights in East Asia; he also has a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Calgary where his doctoral dissertation analyzed the rhetoric of Canadian-American relations. Mr. Milke is president of Civitas, and a past lecturer in Political Philosophy and International Relations at the University of Calgary.… Read more -
Amela Karabegovic
Amela Karabegovi is a former Senior Economist of the Fraser Institute. She holds a B.M. (Great Distinction) in General Managementfrom the University of Lethbridge in Alberta and an M.A. in Economics from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. She was a coauthor of the Economic Freedom of North America , Economic Freedom of the Arab World , Myths and Realities of TILMA , Transparency of Labour Relations Boards in Canada and the United States , Measuring Labour Markets in Canada and the United States , Measuring the Flexibility of Labour Relations Laws in Canada and the United States , Tax and Expenditure Limitations: The Next Step in Fiscal Discipline , and the Prosperity Series-Ontario .… Read more -
Gordon Atherley
Gordon Atherley holds the British equivalent to the Canadian Ph.D. and M.D. degrees, and a L.L.D., Honoris Causa, from SimonFraser University. He is President of Virtual Care International and Principal of Greyhead Associates.… Read more