Our Team
Fred McMahon
- Resident Fellow, Dr. Michael A. Walker Chair in Economic Freedom, Fraser Institute
Fred 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.
Matthew D. Mitchell
- Senior Fellow, Centre for Economic Freedom, Fraser Institute
Matthew D. Mitchell is a Senior Fellow in the Centre for Economic Freedom. Prior to joining the Fraser Institute, Mitchell 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.
James Gwartney
- Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute
James D. Gwartney was a Professor of Economics and the Gus A. Stavros Eminent Scholar at Florida State University. He was the coauthor of Economics: Private and Public Choice (Cengage/South-Western Press, 2021), a widely used principles of economics text that is now in its 17th edition. He was also coauthor of an economics primer, Common Sense Economics: What Everyone Should Know about Wealth and Prosperity (St. Martin’s Press, 2016). His publications have appeared in both professional journals and popular media such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. He served as Chief Economist of the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress during 1999–2000. In 2004, he was the recipient of the Adam Smith Award of the Association of Private Enterprise Education for his contribution to the advancement of free-market ideals. He was a past President of the Southern Economic Association and the Association for Private Enterprise Education. His Ph.D. in economics was from the University of Washington.
Robert A. Lawson
- Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute
Robert A. Lawson is Clinical Professor in Economics, Jerome M. Fullinwider Centennial Chair in Economic Freedom, and Director of the Bridwell Institute for Economic Freedom in the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. He earned his B.S. in economics from the Honors Tutorial College at Ohio University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in economics from Florida State University. A Senior Fellow at the Fraser Institute, he has numerous professional publications in journals such as Public Choice, Cato Journal, Journal of Labor Research, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, and the European Journal of Political Economy. Prof. Lawson has served as President of the Association of Private Enterprise Education and is a member of the Mont Pelerin Society.
Joshua C. Hall
- Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute
Joshua C. Hall is Associate Dean of Research, Chair of the Department of Economics, and Professor of Economics, all in the John Chambers College of Business & Economics at West Virginia University. He earned his B.B.A. and M.A. in economics from Ohio University and his Ph.D. from West Virginia University. Prior to returning to his alma mater, he was the Elbert H. Neese, Jr. Professor of Economics at Beloit College. He is currently serving as Part President of the Association of Private Enterprise Education and is also a Senior Fellow at the Fraser Institute. He is the author of over 70 articles in journals such as Contemporary Economic Policy, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Labor Research, Southern Economic Journal, Public Finance Review, and Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory.
Rosemarie Fike
- Instructor of Economics, Texas Christian University
Rosemarie Fike is an Instructor of Economics at Texas Christian University and a Senior Fellow of the Fraser Institute. She received her M.A. in Economics at George Mason University, and her Ph.D. in Economics at Florida State University. She is an alumna of the Mercatus Center’s MA Fellowship and Adam Smith Fellowship programs. Her current research focuses on understanding the effects that different types of economic institutions have on the lives and status of women. Indeed, Ms. Fike is the principal author of the Institute’s work on women, progress, and economic freedom (available at http://womenandprogress.org). In 2017, she received the Addington Prize for Measurement. Her work has been published in the Eastern Economics Journal, Journal of Economic Education, and Journal of Benefit/Cost Analysis. She has published opinion editorials in news outlets such as US News and World Report, The Hill, and Roll Call.
Our Team
Fred McMahon
- Resident Fellow, Dr. Michael A. Walker Chair in Economic Freedom, Fraser Institute
Fred 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.
Matthew D. Mitchell
- Senior Fellow, Centre for Economic Freedom, Fraser Institute
Matthew D. Mitchell is a Senior Fellow in the Centre for Economic Freedom. Prior to joining the Fraser Institute, Mitchell 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.
Dean Stansel
- Research Associate Professor, Bridwell Institute for Economic Freedom
Dean Stansel is a Research Associate Professor at the Bridwell Institute for Economic Freedom in the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University and a Senior Fellow of the Fraser Institute. Before entering academia, Stansel worked for seven years at the Cato Institute. He is the primary author of Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of North America annual report and sole author of an economic freedom index for U.S. metropolitan areas. Stansel’s academic publications have appeared in the Journal of Urban Economics, Public Finance Review, Journal of Housing Research, Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Review of Law and Economics, and Cato Journal. His op-eds have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and many other newspapers. Stansel earned his PhD and MA in economics from George Mason University and his BA in economics (with honors) and politics from Wake Forest University.
José Torra
- Head of Research, Caminos de la Libertad
RJosé Torra is the head of research at Caminos de la Libertad, a member of the Economic Freedom Network; its mission is to promote discussion about, and reflection upon, the different aspects of freedom. He holds a degree in economics from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City. He is also the author of the book, Jonestown: Religión y Socialismo, published by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.
Ángel Carrión-Tavárez
- Director of Research and Policy, Puerto Rico Institute for Economic Liberty
Ángel Carrión-Tavárez is Director of Research and Policy at the Puerto Rico Institute for Economic Liberty. He is an editor, educator, and multidisciplinary researcher. He has a B.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Puerto Rico, an M.A. in Humanities from California State University, and a Ph.D. in Integration and Economic and Territorial Development from Universidad de León (Spain). He was founder and editor of the economic and public-policy magazine, Panorama 21 (published in English, Spanish, and Portuguese); managing editor of the business weekly, Caribbean Business; and editor-in-chief and president of the Board of the peer-reviewed journal, Fórum Empresarial. He is the author of numerous publications in academic journals and the media, and received the “Teodoro Moscoso Special Award for Business Journalism” from the Overseas Press Club in 2006 and the “Unesco Medal of Excellence in Journalism” in 2005. He has been the academic co-ordinator of the Certificate in Editing and Publishing Arts; a professor of Regional and Business Geography; and the director of the Center for Business Research at the University of Puerto Rico.
Alan W. Dowd
- Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute
Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow and Senior Editor with the Fraser Institute. Mr. Dowd has contributed to Fraser Institute publications such as Economic Freedom of North America (EFNA), Cybersecurity Challenges for Canada and the United States, and Fraser Forum; he also serves as editor of Fraser Insight (the Institute’s US newsletter). Mr. Dowd helped launch the EFNA Network in 2014, and he continues to serve as managing director of the EFNA Network, which today enfolds 45 member-organizations in 36 US states, Canada and Mexico. Mr. Dowd is a frequent contributor to Military Officer, The American, Landing Zone, American Legion, and American Outlook. In addition, his writing has appeared in the Claremont Review of Books, Policy Review, Parameters, Journal of Diplomacy & International Relations, Diplomat & International Canada, World Politics Review, World & I, National Post, Baltimore Sun, Washington Times, Washington Examiner, Sacramento Bee, Indianapolis Star, Detroit News, Vancouver Sun, Wall Street Journal Europe, Jerusalem Post, Financial Times Deutschland, and the online editions of American Interest, National Review, and Weekly Standard. Mr. Dowd has served as an adjunct professor at Butler University and Anderson University; was a founding member of the Sagamore Institute leadership team, where he continues to hold a senior-fellow post; and was director of Hudson Institute’s corporate headquarters. He earned a B.A. from Butler University and an M.A. from Indiana University.
