Daniel J. Mitchell – President
Daniel J. Mitchell is a co-founder of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity and the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation. Dr. Mitchell advocates supply-side tax cuts and fundamental tax reform, and is the nation’s leading opponent of tax harmonization schemes developed by the Brussels-based European Union, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the United Nations.
Dr. Mitchell is one of the nation’s leading experts on tax reform and supply-side tax policy, and he knows how to explain the politics and complexities of tax policy in easy-to-understand terms. As former Presidential candidate Steve Forbes said of Mitchell’s 1996 book, The Flat Tax: Freedom, Fairness, Jobs, and Growth, “Mitchell marvelously demonstrates how the flat tax will rip away the principal source of political pollution in Washington.” In addition to tax policy, Dr. Mitchell is a trenchant observer of economic developments and an expert on Social Security privatization – particularly the fiscal policy impact of reform and what the US can learn from other nations that have created personal retirement accounts.
Dr. Mitchell’s by-line can be found in such national publications as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Investor’s Business Daily, and Washington Times. He is a frequent guest on radio and television and a popular speaker on the lecture circuit. Dr. Mitchell holds a Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in economics from the University of Georgia. Mitchell was a senior fellow with the Cato Institute and The Heritage Foundation, and an economist for Senator Bob Packwood and the Senate Finance Committee. He also served on the 1988 Bush/Quayle transition team and was Director of Tax and Budget Policy for Citizens for a Sound Economy.
Brian Garst – Vice President
Brian Garst joined CF&P in 2010 and serves as Vice President. He produces scholarly research, liaisons with Capitol Hill, and writes regularly on tax and free-market issues. Mr. Garst’s work has been published by numerous outlets, including Offshore Investment, Cayman Financial Review, China Offshore, Thomson Reuters Accelus, IFC Review, The Daily Caller, Human Events, and Townhall.
Prior to joining the Center, Mr. Garst interned at the American Legislative Exchange Council as a research assistant for the Education and Health & Human Services Task Forces, and the Cato Institute as a foreign policy researcher. Originally from Florida, he has a Master’s in Political Science from the University of West Florida, and a B.S. in Computer Science from the Florida Institute of Technology. He can be reached at bgarst@freedomandprosperity.org.
Sven R. Larson – Associate Scholar
Sven R. Larson is a political economist whose research focuses on macroeconomics and the welfare state. He is the author of several peer-review articles and books, including Industrial Poverty (Gower 2014) about the European economic crisis and The Rise of Big Government (Routledge 2018) about the egalitarian roots of the American welfare state. He has worked for several free-market think tanks, including a previous project with the Center for Freedom and Prosperity. He has provided numerous testimonies before legislative committees and is a sought-after policy advisor and public speaker.
Darren Brady Nelson – Associate Scholar
Darren Brady Nelson is an Austrian School economist who has worked for free-market think tanks and advised politicians in Australia and the United States. His work primarily focuses on microeconomics and the regulatory state, with a particular interest in the regulation of so-called public ‘natural monopoly’ utilities, such as airports, buses, electricity, ferries, gas, rail, roads, sewerage, telecommunications and water. He is the author of the book Ten Principles of Regulation & Reform (Connor Court 2017), and is frequent public speaker and media commentator.