The speaker on February 17th will be Jason Clemens on "California Prosperity: Returning the Shine to the Golden State," based on an already published study examining the economic potential and performance of California over the last 5 years and a soon-to-be released study looking at the state’s tax burden, tax rates, and competitiveness.

Jason Clemens is the Director of Research at the San Francisco-based Pacific Research Institute. Prior to joining PRI he held a number of positions at the Canadian-based Fraser Institute over a ten-plus year period. He has an Honors Bachelors Degree of Commerce and a Masters’ Degree in Business Administration from the University of Windsor as well as a Post Baccalaureate Degree in Economics from Simon Fraser University. He has published over 50 major studies on a wide range of topics, including taxation, government spending, labor market regulation, banking, welfare reform, productivity, entrepreneurship, and economic prosperity. He has published over 200 shorter articles, which have appeared in such newspapers as The Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily, the Washington Post, and a host of U.S., Canadian, and international newspapers. Mr. Clemens has been a guest on numerous radio and television programs across Canada and the United States, including ABC News. He has appeared before committees of both the House of Commons and the Senate in Canada as an expert witness and briefed state legislatures in California. In 2006, he received the prestigious Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 award presented by Caldwell Partners as well as an Odyssey Award from the University of Windsor.