About Us Menu

Joe Barnett

Senior Editor, The Heartland Institute

Prior to gaining his current position at Heartland — where he helps edit the Heartland Daily News website — Barnett was managing editor of The Heartland Institute’s Budget & Tax News. Barnett also worked at the National Center for Policy Analysis for 23 years in various positions, including editor of the NCPA’s Daily Policy Digest, director of publications, and senior research director. While serving in management roles, he conducted original research and authored analyses on many topics, including welfare reform, school reform, health care, federal taxation and spending, and economic growth.

Barnett has edited several public policy books, including the Tax Briefing Book, Lives at Risk: Single-Payer Health Care around the World, and Living with Obamacare. He authored a study of Texas state entitlement reform, Better Off Welfare, that showed the gains in personal income to welfare leavers due to work. He was project and editorial director of the taskforce report, Enterprise Programs: Freeing Entrepreneurs to Provide Essential Services to the Poor, which received a Templeton Freedom Award (2012).

Barnett is a member of the board of the Texas Republican Assembly and a member of the Philadelphia Society. He has been active in his community, including serving on the library and zoning appeals boards of the city of Arlington, Texas. He has also served on a number of advisory boards for the Arlington Independent School District.