Robert L. Ascah is now Senior Vice-President, Policy and Strategic Planning, with Alberta Treasury Branches. His interest in public finance began when he was a junior auditor with the Auditor General of Canada, and continued through his doctoral work.

"[ Robert Ascah's] account of this period helps us to see how the economics and politics of government and debt shaped the development of our country and brought us to where we are today." -Paul Boothe, from the Foreword