Jonathan Barazzutti

Economics Student at the University of Calgary

Selected Popular Writing

Let Gifted Kids Skip a Grade: States should make it easier for kids to accelerate – City Journal, March 2, 2026

AI won’t transform the classroom, but it will change how we learn – The Gauntlet, October 1, 2025

That Bloated Feeling: Why Tuition Keeps Going Up at Canada’s Universities – C2C Journal, September 4, 2025

The Tyranny of Inclusion: A Gifted Student in Today’s DEI-Obsessed Schools – C2C Journal, May 18, 2025

Live Free or DEI: Six Ways to Fix the Intellectual Diversity Problem at Canadian Universities – C2C Journal, March 26, 2025

The importance of in-person interaction in breakthrough discoveries – The Gauntlet, December 23, 2023

Media Appearances

Papers

(2022) The Effects of Implementing a Carbon Tax on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Abstract: Around the world, carbon emissions are projected to cause a 1.1°C to a 5.4°C increase in temperatures from now to 2100[1]. Current attempts to tackle the climate shift include market-based mechanisms ranging from varying levels of carbon taxes to emissions trading. Using multivariate time series regression, this paper analyzes the differing trends between nations that have implemented a carbon policy relative to nations that have not, and how those have affected their carbon emissions levels within 1 and 5 years of implementation. None of our model specifications reveal a statistically significant relationship of any kind between an increased carbon tax and carbon emissions. This marked lack of relation between carbon tax policy implementation and carbon emission decreases points to a need to reexamine the way we implement policy to reduce carbon in our world.

Unpublished

(2021) Is Free Education Worth it Modelling the Effects of Legally Guaranteeing Free Education on Student Outcomes

Abstract: Ensuring inclusive and equitable education is Sustainable Development Goal 4 in the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are to be achieved by the year 2030. This paper aims to examine guaranteeing free primary and secondary education as a solution to SDG 4, by looking at how free education affects the quality and inequality of an educational system measured using a wide range of educational indicators. We calculated a variety of relative index scores that include those indicators to measure the quality of educational systems around the world. We then used these index scores within 16 different multiple regression models to quantify the effects that free education has on student outcomes. Our results suggest that overall, free education has positive effects on student outcomes in terms of reducing educational inequality in addition to improving the average student outcomes, which suggests that free education is a viable solution to SDG 4.

Abstract published in STEM Fellowship Journal

Ongoing Projects

The Effect of the 2002 Immigration and Refugee Protection Act on Economic Growth
Description: A short empirical paper completed as a term project for ECON-495 (Intermediate Econometrics). Examines the relationship between the 2002 Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) on economic growth. Got 100% on the project, and now aiming to rework it and submit it for publication at an undergraduate research journal.