Michael Walker

Michael Walker is a Senior Fellow at The Fraser Institute and President of the Fraser Institute Foundation.

From its inception in 1974, until September 2005, Michael Walker directed the activities of the Fraser Institute. Before that he taught at the University of Western Ontario and Carleton and was employed at the Bank of Canada and the Federal Department of Finance.

He received his Ph.D. at the University of Western Ontario and his B.A. at St. Francis Xavier University. As an economist, he has authored or edited 50 books on economic topics. His articles on technical economic subjects have appeared in professional journals in Canada, the United States and Europe, including the Canadian Journal of Economics, the American Economic Review, the Journal of Finance, the Canadian Tax Journal, Health Management Quarterly and Health Affairs.

As a journalist, he has written some 700 articles which have appeared in some 60 newspapers, including the Globe and Mail, the Wall Street Journal, the National Post, the Vancouver Sun, the Chicago Tribune, the Reader's Digest, the Detroit News and the Western Star – the latter being the newspaper in his birthplace, Corner Brook, Newfoundland.

As a broadcaster, he has written and delivered some 2,000 radio broadcasts on economic topics and appeared on radio and television programmes in Canada, the United States and Latin America.

As a consultant, he has provided advice to private groups and governments in the U.S., Argentina, Australia, Bermuda, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Jamaica, New Zealand, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Sweden, Venezuela and Canada.

• Tax Freedom Day - What it is and Why it is Important

• Economic Freedom of the World - Insights from a 120 Country Perspective

• Why is the Canadian Dollar Behaving Like This?

• Globalization

• What is Wrong with the Canadian Health Care System, and How can it be Fixed?

• Your information was riveting and crucial to many decisions which have to be made by us all in the very near future.
  Wood Gundy Inc.
• You delivered precisely the kind of address we were looking for, and provided a superb background to discussions through the day on strategic issues we are addressing as a company.
  Weyerhaeuser Canada.

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  April 2008

  Tax Facts 15

  "The average Canadian family pays more in taxes than it spends on food, shelter, and clothing. Have you ever wondered how much tax you pay? How many layers of tax are hidden in the purchases you make every day? Are taxes taking an ever-increasing share of the nation's total income? How much does government really cost you? You will find the answers to these and other important questions about taxes and the Canadian consumer inside Tax Facts 15. See how your own province is doing in this detailed province-by-province analysis of the direct and hidden taxes we pay. Can you afford not to know how much tax you really pay?

  
  
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  January 1997

  The Underground Economy

  The papers in this ground breaking book constitute a unique collection of information about the underground economy and how it is manifested in a variety of countries.  Section One attempts to measure Canada's underground economic activity and provides a specific estimate of the impact that tax changes have on its size. It also looks at the problems of tax evasion and tax avoidance.  Section Two deals with the size of the underground substance economy, the legal aspects of the underground economy in the United States, and an assessment of the economic activities of the Mafia.  Section Three analyzes the underground economy abroad, specifically in the United States, Britain, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Russia and China.  The fourth section returns to Canada and examines some policy implications of the underground economy. A survey detailed in Section One show that a majority of Canadians believe that they do not receive enough benefits for the taxation they pay. Section Four offers a solution to the problem of tax evasion and underground economic activity: the adoption of user fees and user taxes.