Expert Advisory Panel

David Beito is an associate professor of history at the University of Alabama. Much of his research has focused on the history of the non-governmental provision of public services. He wrote Taxpayers in Revolt: Tax Resistance during the Great Depression (1989), From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State: Fratermal Societies and Social Services, 1890-1967 (2000), and edited The The Voluntary City: Choice Community, and Civil Society (2002). He has also published articles in Journal of Urban History, Critical Review, the Journal of Policy History, the Journal of Interdisciplinary History, and the Journal of Southern History. He is currently writing (with his co-author Professor Linda Royster Beito of Stillman College), a biography of Dr. T.R.M. Howard, a black civil rights pioneer, entrepreneur, and mutual aid leader. He was recently appointed Chairman of the Alabama State Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He contributes to the Liberty and Power Group Blog at the History News Network (http://hnn.us/blogs/4.html). Professor Beito, a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, has a Ph.D. in history from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Rodney Clifton is a Senior Scholar at the University of Manitoba and a Senior Fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy (www.fcpp.org).  He received his B.Ed and M.Ed. from the University of Alberta, his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, and his Fil.Dr. from the University of Stockholm.  In addition, he has been awarded a Spencer Fellowship from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, a Rh. Award from the University of Manitoba, a R.W.B. Jackson Research Award from the Canadian Educational Researchers’ Association, and both an Edward Sheffield and a Distinguished Research Awards from the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education.  He has written for numerous newspapers and journals, including the Canadian Journal of Education, Policy Options, Sociology of Education, the National Post, and the Winnipeg Free Press.  His books include Socioeconomic Status, Attitudes, and Educational Performances: A Comparison of Students in England and New Zealand, Authority in Classrooms, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Canadian Educational Issues, and Recent Social Trends in Canada, 1960-2000.  His most recent book, What’s Wrong With Our Schools and How We Can Fix Them, was published in 2010 and was written with Michael Zwaagstra and John Long. 

Wendell Cox, Senior Fellow, is principal of Wendell Cox Consultancy, an international public policy, demographics and transport consulting firm. He has developed a leadership role in urban transport and land use and the firm maintains three internet websites: www.demographia.com, www.publicpurpose.com and www.rentalcartours.net . Wendell Cox has completed projects in Canada, the United States, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Africa. He is author of "War on the Dream: How Anti-Sprawl Policy Threatens the Quality of Life" and a co-author with Richard Vedder of "The Wal-Mart Revolution: How Big-Box Stores Benefit Consumers, Workers, and the Economy." He was appointed to three terms on the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission which oversaw highways and public transit in the largest county in the United States. He was also appointed to the Amtrak Reform Council. Wendell Cox is visiting professor at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers (a national university) in Paris.

Sir Roger Douglas Sir Roger Douglas was Finance Minister in New Zealand's Labour Government from 1984 to 1988. Sir Roger was responsible for one of the most comprehensive restructuring program ever attempted by a government anywhere. The program included cutting income tax rates in half, deregulating wide sectors of the New Zealand economy, ending farm and business subsidies, and restructuring and privatizing most state owned enterprises. Most significantly, Sir Roger overhauled the operating philosophy of government agencies and departments to make them run as competition-oriented, bottom line business enterprises that are fully accountable for resources they receive from taxpayers. Sir Roger retired from politics in 1990 and now operates an international consulting firm based from Auckland, New Zealand where he lives. In 2008 he was re-elected to the New Zealand parliament with the party he founded, the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers. See more at www.rogerdouglas.org.nz.

Johan Hjertqvist is the founder and president of the Health Consumer Powerhouse in Brussels, the European do-tank for better healthcare by consumer information and knowledge. Before the Powerhouse, Mr. Hjertqvist was the manager of Timbro Health Policy Unit, a division of the Timbro Policy Group in Stockholm, Sweden. Mr. Hjertqvist has a background in health care policy and welfare entrepreneurial activities. Beginning in 1999 he led a four-year project to analyze the transformation of health care in the Stockholm region which resulted in three comprehensive reports. His “The Stockholm Health Care Revolution” published in 2000 is an internationally well-known inspiration to reform. During the 1990’s, Mr. Hjertqvist played an active role in the transition of internal market ideas to a number of countries, UK, Norway and Canada not the least. Mr. Hjertqvist has also acted as an advisor to the Greater Stockholm Council, specializing in market infrastructures where purchasers and providers can meet and the focus of his projects between 1995 – 99 was on creating new arenas where private health care entrepreneurs and contractors could come together to strengthen the impact of market pluralism. Mr. Hjertqvist has a Master of Laws degree from the University of Stockholm and is a member of international health care networks and institutions such as the Stockholm Network in London and the Centre for the New Europe in Brussels and also serves on the Board of Research Advisors at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

Click for a high-res photo

Ruth Richardson established her reputation as an advocate for change during the remarkable reform era in New Zealand from the mid-1980's to the mid-1990's. As New Zealand's Minister of Finance from 1990–1993, she was the principal architect of New Zealand's second wave of reform, complementing the first wave of reforms initiated in the mid 1980s by New Zealand's other well-known Minister of Finance, Sir Roger Douglas. Her institutional framework for the conduct of fiscal policy, the Fiscal Responsibility Act 1994, is widely regarded as setting international best practice, and is a cornerstone of New Zealand's economic framework. She is a director of the Mont Pelerin Society, an elite group of classical liberal thinkers that was started by Nobel laureate Friedrich Hayek. Ruth has established a substantial private sector practice in corporate governance and holds directorships throughout a wide spectrum of business activity on three continents.

Alex Avery has been the Director of Research and Education at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Global Food Issues since 1994. The Center conducts research and analysis on environmental concerns surrounding food production, and uses its worldwide overview of food and farming to assess policies, improve farmers’ understanding of the new globalized farm economy and heighten awareness of the environmental impacts of various farming systems and food policies. His numerous publications (listed at www.hudson.org) include papers on eco-friendly farming and the effects of nitrates in drinking water on infant children. Avery holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Old Dominion University and has conducted basic plant research on drought-resistant sorghum varieties for the Sudan as a McKnight Research Fellow at Purdue University.

Niger Innis currently serves as the National Spokesman for the Congress of Racial Equality, one of the oldest African-American anti-poverty groups. It was founded in 1942 as one of the pioneers of the civil rights movement in the United States. Its national Headquarters is located in New York City. From there a network of local affiliates and chapters radiate across the United States, Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Central and South America. He works closely with the National Chairman and represents CORE across the United States and around the world. In addition to his role with CORE, Innis is on the Advisory Committee member of the National Center for Public Policy Research Project 21. In 1993, Mr. Innis served as campaign manager for the Roy Innis for Mayor campaign in New York City's Democratic Party primary. Although the candidate was outspent $3.5 million to $100,000 by the incumbent Mayor David Dinkins, the Innis campaign was able to garner more than 25% of the vote in the primary. Mr. Innis’ Civil Rights and political activities led to regular and various television and radio appearances around the world. Mr. Innis has been a guest on CNN, BBC, CBC, Al-Jeezera, Fox News Channel, ABC News, CBS News and MSNBC. He attended Georgetown University and pursued a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science. Innis, born and raised in Harlem, New York, currently lives in Westchester, New York and North Las Vegas, Nevada.

Sheldon Schwartz worked for the Province of Saskatchewan during a career spanning 25 years, including as Assistant Deputy Minister of Finance, responsible for Saskatchewan’s treasury and debt management functions and as the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance and Administration for Crown Investments Corporation, the Province’s holding company for its commercial Crown corporations. Born in Regina, he has a Masters degree in Economics from Carleton University, and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. As a semi-retired consultant living in Victoria, British Columbia, Sheldon continues his lifelong interest in public policy in Canada. His recent article, “Saskatchewan’s Crown Corporations— Time for a New Crown Review”, appeared in The Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy’s Spring 2008 Policy Dialogue.

Click for a high-res photo