Daniel J. "Dan" Mitchell is a

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

economist and former senior fellow at the

Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch ...

.Board of Directors
''

Center for Freedom and Prosperity The Center for Freedom and Prosperity (CFP or CF&P) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for flat taxes, territorial taxation systems, and offshore tax havens. The organization and its subsidiary, Center for Freedom and Prosperity ...

'', accessed 2018-01-21. He is a proponent of the

flat tax A flat tax (short for flat-rate tax) is a tax with a single rate on the taxable amount, after accounting for any deductions or exemptions from the tax base. It is not necessarily a fully proportional tax. Implementations are often progressi ...

and

tax competition Tax competition, a form of regulatory competition, exists when governments use reductions in fiscal burdens to encourage the inflow of productive resources or to discourage the exodus of those resources. Often, this means a governmental strategy o ...

, financial privacy, and fiscal sovereignty.

Early life and education

Mitchell was born on June 30, 1958, in

Mt. Kisco, New York Mount Kisco is a village and town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The town of Mount Kisco is coterminous with the village. The population was 10,959 at the 2020 United States census. It serves as a significant historic site al ...

, and grew up in

Wilton, Connecticut Wilton is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the town population was 18,503. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Wester ...

. He graduated from

Wilton High School Wilton High School is a public high school in Wilton, Connecticut, U.S., considered "one of Connecticut's top performers" in various measures of school success in 2007,Cowan, Alison Leigh, "Play About Iraq War Divides a Connecticut School", ''The ...

in 1976, and went on to attend the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...

, where he graduated in 1981 with a bachelor's in economics. He then earned a master's degree in economics from the University of Georgia in 1985. At the University of Georgia, Mitchell was a member of

Phi Kappa Theta Phi Kappa Theta (), commonly known as Phi Kap, is a national social fraternity that has over 35 active chapters and colonies at universities across 21 U.S. states. The fraternity was founded on April 29, 1959, at Ohio State University in Columb ...

fraternity. In 1985, Mitchell moved to the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the National Capital Region, Greater Washington, or locally as the DMV (short for Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), is the metropolitan area comprising Washing ...

to begin pursuing a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in economics at

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

Fairfax, Virginia Fairfax ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia and the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 24,146. Fairfax is pa ...

.Daniel J. Mitchell Joins Cato Institute as Senior Fellow
''

'', accessed 2018-01-21.

Career

Mitchell's career as an economist began in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

, working for Oregon senator

Bob Packwood Robert William Packwood (born September 11, 1932) is an American retired lawyer and politician from Oregon who served as a member of the United States Senate from 1969 to 1995. He resigned from the U.S. Senate under threat of expulsion, in 1995 ...

and the

Senate Finance Committee The United States Senate Committee on Finance (or, less formally, Senate Finance Committee) is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The committee concerns itself with matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generall ...

. He also served on the transition team of President-elect George H. W. Bush and Vice President-elect Quayle in 1988. In 1990, he began work at

The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (or simply Heritage) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1973, it took a leading role in the conservative movement in the 1980s during the Presi ...

, where he worked on tax policy issues and began advocating for income tax reform. In 2007, Mitchell left The Heritage Foundation, and joined the

as a senior fellow. Mitchell continues to work in tax policy, and deals with issues such as the flat tax and international tax competition. In addition to his Cato Institute responsibilities, Mitchell co-founded the

, an organization formed to protect international tax competition.

Publications

Mitchell's work has been published in ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American Conservatism, conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on Politics of the United States, national politics. Its broadsheet daily edit ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...

'', ''

Villanova Law Review The Charles Widger School of Law (known as Villanova Law) is the law school of Villanova University, a private Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was opened in 1953 and is approved by the American Bar Association (A ...

'', ''

Public Choice Public choice, or public choice theory, is "the use of economic tools to deal with traditional problems of political science."Gordon Tullock, 9872008, "public choice," ''The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics''. . It includes the study of po ...

'', ''

Emory Law Journal The ''Emory Law Journal'' is a student-run law review A law review or law journal is a scholarly journal or publication that focuses on legal issues. A law review is a type of legal periodical. Law reviews are a source of research, imbedded wi ...

'', ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'', ''

Investor's Business Daily ''Investor's Business Daily'' (''IBD'') is an American newspaper and website covering the stock market, international business, finance, and economics. Founded in 1984 by William O'Neil as a print newspaper, it is owned by News Corp and headquar ...

'', and other publications. He is the author of ''Flat Tax: Freedom, Fairness, Jobs, and Growth'' (1996), and co-author with Chris Edwards of ''Tax Revolution: The Rise of Tax Competition and the Battle to Defend It'' (2008). Mitchell's daily blog is "Liberty – Restraining Government in America and Around the World", in which he writes about economic issues related to sustainable freedom and prosperity.

Television appearances and videos

Mitchell is a frequent commentator on television and has appeared on all the major networks, including CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, CNN, CNBC, and C-SPAN. He currently makes a weekly appearances on '' Street Signs'' on Mondays at 2:00 pm ET. Mitchell narrates a YouTube video series for the Center of Freedom and Prosperity on topics such as flat tax,

tax havens A tax haven is a term, often used pejoratively, to describe a place with very low tax rates for non-domiciled investors, even if the official rates may be higher. In some older definitions, a tax haven also offers financial secrecy. However, ...

, and

Keynesian economics Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomics, macroeconomic theories and Economic model, models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongl ...

References

External links

Bio
at the Center for Freedom and Prosperity
Bio
at the Cato Institute
Bio
at the

Mises Institute The Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, or Mises Institute, is a nonprofit think tank headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, that is a center for Austrian economics, right-wing libertarian thought and the paleolibertarian and ana ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Daniel J. 1958 births Living people American libertarians Cato Institute people Libertarian economists Tax reform in the United States The Heritage Foundation people