Dean Stansel

Research Associate Professor, Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University

Dean Stansel is a Research Associate Professor at the Bridwell Institute for Economic Freedom in the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. He earned his B.A. in economics (with honors) and politics from Wake Forest University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University. Before entering academia, Prof. Stansel worked for seven years at the Cato Institute, a public-policy research organization in Washington, D.C., where he produced over 60 publications on fiscal policy issues. In addition to his work on Economic Freedom of North America, he is sole author of the Reason Foundation’s U.S. Metropolitan Area Economic Freedom Index, as well as the author of numerous academic journal articles on a variety of issues in public finance and urban economics. Prof. Stansel’s research has been discussed in many publications including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution; and his commentaries have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Investor’s Business Daily, Chicago Tribune, and Dallas Morning News, among others.

Recent Research by Dean Stansel

— Nov 9, 2023
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Economic Freedom of North America 2023

Economic Freedom of North America is an annual report which measures government spending, taxation and labour market restrictions across 50 U.S. states, 32 Mexican states, 10 Canadian provinces, and the US territory of Puerto Rico, and found that this year, for the first time, every Canadian province ranks in the bottom half of jurisdictions, with Alberta (the highest-ranking province) only being tied for 31st place out of 93 in the all-government index.

— Nov 15, 2022
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Economic Freedom of North America 2022

According to this year’s Economic Freedom of North America report, which measures government spending, taxation and labour market restrictions, every Canadian province now ranks in the bottom half of jurisdictions in our annual rankings of economic freedom.

— Nov 16, 2021
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Economic Freedom of North America 2021

According to this year’s Economic Freedom of North America report, which measures government spending, taxation and labour market restrictions, Canadian provinces once again lag behind U.S. states.