Matthew Lau

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Adjunct Scholar, Fraser Institute

Matthew Lau is an adjunct scholar at the Fraser Institute and writes regularly for the Financial Post. His writing covers a wide range of subjects, including fiscal policy, economic theory, climate change, and government regulation. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a specialization in finance and economics from the University of Toronto, and is a CFA charterholder.

Recent Research by Matthew Lau

ESG Is Mainly Top-Down Planning by Elites (ESG: Myths and Realities)

— Jan 20, 2023

ESG Is Mainly Top-Down Planning by Elites is a new essay in the Institute’s series on the Environmental, Social and Governance movement. In it, adjunct scholar Matt Lau details how the refocus of business and financial activity toward ESG concerns has been pushed from above by government bodies and politically powerful organizations at the expense of individual investors.

Read the Essay - ESG Is Mainly Top-Down Planning by Elites

Student Testing: An International Context

— Jun 16, 2022

Student Testing: An International Context is a new study that finds more than 80 countries or jurisdictions are participating in this year’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a group of comparable, highly developed nations, including Canada. The OECD reports that about three-quarters of 15-year-old students in those participating countries attend schools in which mandatory standardized tests are used at least once a year.

Read the Full Report

Do Budget Deficits Matter? Essays on the Implications of Government Deficits and Debt

— Jun 8, 2022

Low Interest Rates and the Cost of Government Debt and Canada’s Budget and Deficit Cuts in the Late 20th Century: An Amazing Success Story are the latest installments in an essay series on government deficits that emphasize the risks of higher interest costs on government debt, and note the similarities between today’s federal fiscal situation and the mid-1990s when interest costs consumed one of every three dollars of government revenue. At that time, the government enacted major reforms—including spending reductions—to help dramatically reduce the federal debt.