| image= Will Wilkinson.jpg

| birthname =

| birth_place = [[Independence, Missouri]]

| age =

| education = [[University of Northern Iowa]] (1995); [[Master's degree|M.A.]] in [[Philosophy]] from the [[Northern Illinois University]] (1998); MFA in creative writing from the University of Houston (2015)

| occupation = writer, [[blog]]ger; Vice-president for Policy at the [[Niskanen Center]]

| domestic_partner = [[Kerry Howley]]

| credits = policy analyst at the [[Cato Institute]]; Academic Coordinator of the Social Change Project and the Global Prosperity Initiative at The [[Mercatus Center]] at [[George Mason University]]; host of a weekly show, "Free Will," on [[BloggingHeads.tv]]; biweekly commentator on [[American Public Media]]'s[[Marketplace (radio program)|Marketplace]]

| agent =

| URL = http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/

==Biography==

Wilkinson was born in [[Independence, Missouri]], and grew up in [[Marshalltown, Iowa]]. He graduated from the [[University of Northern Iowa]] in 1995, received his [[Master's degree|M.A.]] in [[Philosophy]] from the [[Northern Illinois University]] in 1998 and did work toward a Ph.D. at the [[University of Maryland, College Park|University of Maryland]].

In 2009 Wilkinson gained Canadian citizenship via his father, a Canadian American expatriate whose Canadian citizenship was reinstated following a change in Canadian emigration law.<ref>https://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200910/canadian-citizenship</ref>

In 2015, Wilkinson completed his MFA studies at the University of Houston.

==Writing and commentary==

His writing has appeared in ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'',<ref>http://www.slate.com/id/2141633/</ref> ''[[Reason magazine|Reason]]'',<ref>[http://www.reason.com/0602/cr.ww.happiness.shtml]</ref> ''[[TCS Daily]]'',<ref>[http://www.tcsdaily.com/Authors.aspx?id=700]</ref> ''[[National Review]]'',<ref>[http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODg2NTY1YTRlZjZkYmE2MGYyNWM2Zjk5NzJhZWRlMDc=]</ref> the [[FoxNews]] website,<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,155619,00.html</ref> ''The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism'',<ref name="The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism">{{cite encyclopedia |last= Wilkinson|first= Will|editor-first=Ronald |editor-last=Hamowy |editor-link=Ronald Hamowy |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism |title= Harper, Floyd Arthur 'Baldy' (1905–1973) |url= http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412965811.n130 |year=2008 |publisher= [[SAGE Publications|SAGE]]; [[Cato Institute]] |location= Thousand Oaks, CA |isbn= 9781412965804 |pages= 217–18 |quote= |ref= }}</ref> New York Times<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/27/opinion/sunday/for-trump-and-gop-the-welfare-state-shouldnt-be-the-enemy.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=0 The welfare state shouldn't be the enemy] Retrieved May 28, 2017</ref> and on [[The Economist]]'s ''Free Exchange'' economics blog,<ref>[https://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2007/05/welcome_will.cfm]</ref> where he has been a regular contributor from 2007 onwards. As of 2010, he is one of the contributors of The Economist's ''Democracy in America'' blog under the pseudonym W.W.

Journalist [[Ryan Blitstein]] regards Wilkinson as an expert in the relationship of happiness research to public policy.<ref>"Arguably the most knowledgeable nonscientist in the United States on happiness and public policy, Wilkinson has emerged as a cogent critic of the nascent movement," writes journalist Ryan Blitstein in [http://www.miller-mccune.com/article/391|a May 2008 article in Miller-McCune].</ref> He has been cited on happiness and public policy in articles in ''[[Forbes]]'',<ref>http://www.forbes.com/2006/02/11/tim-harford-money_cz_th_money06_0214harford.html</ref> ''[[The Los Angeles Times]]'',<ref>http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jul/03/local/me-happy3</ref> and ''[[The Washington Post]]''.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/07/AR2008020701904_pf.html</ref>

Wilkinson has appeared a regular commentator on [[American Public Media]]'s widely syndicated radio show ''[[Marketplace (radio program)|Marketplace]]''. He is the host of a weekly show, ''Free Will'', on the current affairs [[diavlog]] site [[Bloggingheads TV]]. The show features discussions of new books and ideas with writers and intellectuals.

Wilkinson frequently appears in public forums and debates with leading intellectuals. In November 2007, Wilkinson, teamed with [[George Mason University]] economist [[Tyler Cowen]], was pitted against [[Columbia University]] economist [[Jeffrey Sachs]] and University of Pennsylvania economist [[Betsey Stevenson]] in a highly publicized public debate on the economic and politics of happiness sponsored by ''[[The Economist]]'' newspaper.<ref>http://www.economist.com/nydebates/</ref> Wilkinson has recently appeared with [[University of Chicago]] law professor [[Cass Sunstein]] and Stanford University psychology professor [[Philip Zimbardo]] at [[Cato Institute]] book forums where he offered critical comments on their recent books.<ref>http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=4526</ref><ref>http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=4894</ref>

==Personal life==

Wilkinson is an [[atheist]]. He has stated that he does not "like religion very much" in general and believes that less religious cultures or groups of people become better off. However, he has acknowledged that more religious people may be more likely to favor [[libertarianism in the United States]] than less religious people.<ref name=faith>[http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/18066?in=00:45:59&out=00:53:39 Free Will: Liberaltarianism Showdown] [[Bloggingheads.tv]] Posted March 1, 2009.</ref>

== External links ==

* [http://www.cato-unbound.org/ Cato Unbound], Cato's Online Monthly Magazine

* [http://willwilkinson.net/flybottle/ The Fly Bottle], Wilkinson's personal weblog

* [http://happinesspolicy.com Happiness & Public Policy], Wilkinson's blog on the political implications of happiness research

* [http://www.willwilkinson.net/about/ Wilkinson's biography at his blog]

* [https://www.cato.org/people/will-wilkinson Cato bio], Wilkinson's official Cato Institute page

* [http://bloggingheads.tv/?s=will+wilkinson Video interviews and conversations] at [[Bloggingheads.tv]]

*[https://gulfcoastmag.org/index.php?n=2&si=52&s=3271 "Thinking in Comics: A Roundtable on the Present and Future of the Graphic Novel featuring Matt Kindt, Hope Larson, Nate Powell, Dash Shaw, James Sturm, [[Jillian Tamaki]], and Will Wilkinson" in ''Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts'' (26.1)]

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[[Category:1973 births]]

[[Category:Living people]]

[[Category:American atheists]]

[[Category:American non-fiction writers]]

[[Category:Cato Institute people]]

[[Category:People from Marshalltown, Iowa]]

[[Category:Video bloggers]]

[[Category:Northern Illinois University alumni]]

[[Category:University of Houston alumni]]

[[Category:University of Maryland, College Park alumni]]

[[Category:University of Northern Iowa alumni]]