Lawrence J. McQuillan is Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on Entrepreneurial Innovation at the Independent Institute and author of the new Independent book, California Dreaming: How to Resolve America’s Public Pension Crisis. He received his Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University, and he has served as Chief Economist at the Illinois Policy Institute, Director of Business and Economic Studies at the Pacific Research Institute, Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and Founding Publisher and Contributing Editor of Economic Issues. Dr. McQuillan is the author of twenty other books and studies and more than 400 articles in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, Investor’s Business Daily, Forbes, USA Today, and New York Post, and he has appeared on NPR, Fox Business Network, CNBC, and CNN. He created the California Golden Fleece Awards to highlight state or local government programs that fleece taxpayers, consumers, or businesses.