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.