Alex Whalen

Alex Whalen

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Policy Analyst

Alex Whalen is a Policy Analyst with the Fraser Institute and coordinator for many of the activities for the recently launched Atlantic Canada division. Prior to joining the Institute, Alex was the Vice-President of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS), which merged with the Fraser Institute in November 2019. He is a graduate of the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University, where he focused on business and tax law, and of the UPEI Business School, where he focused on economics and entrepreneurship. He brings prior experience as an entrepreneur, business manager, and freelance writer to his work at the Institute. His writing has appeared in the National Post, Chronicle-Herald, Telegraph-Journal, Prince Arthur Herald, Charlottetown Guardian, Journal Pioneer, and UPEI School of Business Magazine. A native of Summerside, PEI, he writes regularly on public finance, taxation, municipal affairs, and economics.

Recent Research by Alex Whalen

Achieving the Four-Day Work Week: Essays on Improving Productivity Growth in Canada

— Mar 4, 2021

Achieving the 4-Day Work Week: Essays on Improving Productivity Growth in Canada is a new essay series, authored by notable economists and analysts from across North America, that identifies and discusses a set of initiatives that promise to improve Canada’s labour productivity growth rate, which is essential to achieve a 4-day work week without sacrificing compensation. In broad terms, the initiatives identified in these essays promote faster productivity growth by encouraging more investment in physical and human capital, and by stimulating innovation and entrepreneurship.

Atlantic Canada's Precarious Public Finances

— Feb 17, 2021

Atlantic Canada’s Precarious Public Finances finds that the financial positions of the four Atlantic provinces are unsustainable, and they will face rising debt-to-GDP ratios in the coming years in the absence of policy changes or improved economic growth. Crucially, the Atlantic provinces’ finances are more vulnerable than those in other provinces because of a number of economic and demographic factors in the region, such as an older population, high tax and interest rates, and a greater dependency on federal transfers from Ottawa.

Achieving the Four-Day Work Week: Part 4 Essays

— Feb 4, 2021

Increasing Productivity Through Tax Reform argues that if governments across Canada want to help increase productivity—and the possibility of a four-day work week—they should lower tax rates on business, capital gains and personal income.