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The Cato Institute is pleased to announce the addition of Daniel J. Mitchell as a Senior Fellow. Mitchell, who currently serves as the McKenna Senior Fellow in Political Economy at the Heritage Foundation, is one of America’s leading experts on the flat tax and has been an influential voice here and overseas in the fight to preserve tax competition and fiscal sovereignty.

Prior to joining Heritage in 1990, Mitchell served as an economist for Senator Bob Packwood of Oregon. He also covered the Federal Reserve System for the Bush/​Quayle transition team, and was Director of Tax and Budget Policy for Citizens for a Sound Economy.

“I am delighted to join the Cato Institute and to be part of a first-rate team of scholars. With its unparalleled commitment to limited government and individual freedom, the Cato Institute is the ideal platform to argue for less spending and a simple and fair low-rate tax system. Cato’s international reputation also will be immensely helpful in the fight against international bureaucracies that want to harmonize tax systems and create an OPEC for politicians.”

Mitchell is a prolific writer and is the author of The Flat Tax: Freedom, Fairness, Jobs, and Growth. His work has been published in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, and other prominent newspapers and magazines in America and abroad. He has appeared on all the major networks and main cable channels, including CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, FOX, CNBC, and C‑SPAN.

In his writings he has been a defender of financial privacy and a forceful critic of government surveillance of legitimate financial transactions.

“We are delighted to have Dan Mitchell join the Cato Institute,” said Cato president Ed Crane. “Dan will be an important addition to our already impressive fiscal policy team. He is an internationally recognized expert in tax competition, one of the most effective tools to control the growth of government. I have long admired Dan’s principled commitment to strictly limited government and look forward to working with him in the years to come.”

Born in Mt. Kisco, NY, Mitchell holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Georgia and holds a Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University. He lives with his three children in Fairfax, Virginia.