Our People

was a long-serving senior fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, where he remains an affiliated senior scholar. He is also a senior research fellow at the Knee Regulatory Research Center at West Virginia University.Mitchell received his PhD and MA in economics from George Mason University and his BA in political science and BS in economics from Arizona State University. His writing and research focuses on economic freedom, public choice economics, and the economics of government favoritism.Mitchell has testified before the U.S. Congress and several state legislatures. He has advised federal, state, and local government policymakers in the United States on both fiscal and regulatory policy. His research has been featured in numerous national media outlets, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, National Public Radio, and C-SPAN.

Engineering from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and a M.Sc. in Economics from the University of Concepcion, Chile. Ms. Palacios has studied public policy involving taxation, government finances, investment, productivity, labour markets, and charitable giving, for nearly 10 years. Since joining the Institute, Ms. Palacios has authored or coauthored over 70 comprehensive research studies, 70 commentaries and four books. Her recent commentaries have appeared in major Canadian newspapers such as the National Post, Toronto Sun, Windsor Star, and Vancouver Sun.

from McGill University and is currently completing a master of journalism degree from Carleton University, with a specialization in public affairs reporting.  Mr. Quesnel has over 15 years of experience in print journalism including over three years as lead staff writer at the Drum/First Perspective, a national Aboriginal publication.For close to seven years, Mr. Quesnel was a Manning intern and a full-time policy analyst at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy where he has written widely on Aboriginal, property rights, and water market issues. Some of his publications include a Canadian Property Rights Index, an annual Aboriginal Governance Index, and a study of the B.C. Nisga’a Nation.  Mr. Quesnel’s work has been featured in numerous Canadian radio and newspapers outlets (Globe and Mail, National Post,  Vancouver Sun,  Montreal Gazette,  Ottawa Citizen,  and Chronicle Herald.  He has been called to provide expert testimony before the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples and the House’s Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.