Ben Eisen

Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute

Ben Eisen is a Senior Fellow in Fiscal and Provincial Prosperity Studies and former Director of Provincial Prosperity Studies at the Fraser Institute. He holds a BA from the University of Toronto and an MPP from the University of Toronto’s School of Public Policy and Governance. Prior to joining the Fraser Institute Mr. Eisen was the Director of Research and Programmes at the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies in Halifax.  He also worked for the Citizens Budget Commission in New York City, and in Winnipeg as the Assistant Research Director for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. Mr. Eisen has published influential studies on several policy topics, including intergovernmental relations, public finance, and higher education policy. He has been widely quoted in major newspapers including the National Post, Chronicle Herald, Winnipeg Free Press and Calgary Herald.

Recent Research by Ben Eisen

— Feb 21, 2024
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British Columbia’s Current Spending Peak: Highest in History, Highest Growth in Canada finds that the B.C. government’s per-person spending in 2022/23, the latest year of available data, was nearly 20 per cent higher than in 2019/20.

— Feb 15, 2024
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Comparing Employment Income in Toronto and Selected American Metropolitan Areas

Comparing Employment Income in Toronto and Selected American Metropolitan Areas is a new study that compares median employment income in Toronto and US metropolitan areas, and finds that the annual gap in employment income between Toronto and the lowest ranking large US metropolitan area, Miami, was $2,030 in 2019, while the difference between Toronto and the highest-ranking US metro, San Francisco, was $32,765.

— Jan 4, 2024
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British Columbia's Coming Debt Boom in Historical Context

British Columbia’s Coming Debt Boom in Historical Context is a new study that finds over the next three years, the BC government plans to add a total of $35.6 billion in new debt (adjusting for both inflation and financial assets). This compares with additional debt of $9.9 billion after the pandemic and $17.8 billion after the financial crisis of 2008/09.