Dr. Frank Atkins is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Calgary. Frank attended the University of Guelph and received an Honours B.A. in 1977, and an M.A. in 1979. Upon graduation, Frank spent two years at the Bank of Canada as an Economic Analyst, where he gained a deep appreciation for the difficulties associated with monetary policy formation. In 1981, Frank left the Bank of Canada to further his studies in economics at Queen's University at Kingston. Frank graduated in 1985, with a Ph.D. in economics, and joined the faculty at the University of Calgary. Frank's main academic areas of interest are monetary policy and the application of time series analysis to macroeconomic data. Frank had the privilege of supervising the Master of Arts (Economics) thesis of Stephen Harper, who is now the Prime Minister of Canada. As well as publishing many articles in leading economic journals, Frank is a frequent commentator on macroeconomic issues for the major national networks.