CMFA Economics Intern

*To be considered for an internship, you must apply directly through our online application here.* 

As a Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives (CMFA) intern, you will work with scholars on projects dedicated to revealing the shortcomings of today’s centralized, bureaucratic, and discretionary monetary and financial-regulatory systems and to identify, study, and promote alternatives more conducive to a stable, flourishing, and free society. Both legal and economics CMFA interns will gain a deeper understanding of not only how the U.S. economy has taken shape but also what it takes to create impactful research.

Workload

• Provide research assistance to the Center’s scholars on a wide range of issues related to monetary policy and financial markets
  • Issue areas may include the following:
    • Federal Reserve
    • Dodd-Frank Act
    • financial markets regulation
    • housing policy
    • banking regulation
    • financial markets innovations: crowd-funding, peer-to-peer lending, mobile payments, and cryptocurrencies
• Assemble literature reviews and draft memos
• Attend and report on congressional hearings and briefings as well as other events around Washington, DC
• Assist the Center’s social media efforts by identifying relevant content for sharing and promoting
• Optional: Conduct an independent research project supervised by a Center scholar

Qualifications

• Strong academic record
• Excellent research and writing skills
• Background in economics or finance preferred
• Expressed interest in monetary policy and/​or financial markets
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Excel

The foundations of economic freedom are personal choice, voluntary exchange, and open markets. As Adam Smith, F. A. Hayek, and Milton Friedman stressed, freedom of exchange and minimally regulated markets supply the fuel for economic progress. Without exchange and entrepreneurial activity that is coordinated through markets rather than by governments, modern living standards would be impossible. Cato scholars explore policy reforms that could increase growth by strengthening property rights and the rule of law, safeguarding the value of money, reducing excessive taxes and regulations, scaling back government interference with trade and immigration, and reducing federal spending on programs that harm economic productivity. 

About the Cato Internship Program

Cato’s paid internships are for undergraduates, recent graduates, graduate students, law students, and early-career professionals who have a strong commitment to individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace—principles that, taken together, constitute libertarianism, known alternately as “classical liberalism,” “market liberalism,” or, to many of our international friends, just “liberalism.” 

All Cato interns attend the same intensive seminar series, which covers a broad range of history, philosophy, policy, and professional development topics. Interns also aid with events and occasionally help Cato staff with other day-to-day needs. 

Interns receive competitive compensation. Part-time positions are adjusted accordingly and carry a minimum of 25 hrs./wk. Program participants must be available in person in Washington, D.C.  

For more information about the internship program and experience, we encourage you to explore our website.  

If you have any questions, feel free to email Cortez Bartolome, Programs Coordinator, at studentprograms@cato.org