Pierre Yared is the Acting Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. He is the MUTB Professor of International Business at Columbia University’s Business School. He previously served as the Senior Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs and Vice Dean for Executive Education at Columbia Business School. His research, which has been published in leading academic journals, studies the political economy of macroeconomic policy.

Yared teaches Global Economic Environment, a Core MBA course in macroeconomics for which he received the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence. He is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of the Economic Club of New York. Yared received his AB in Economics from Harvard University and his PhD in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Kim Ruhl is a Member of the Council of Economic Advisers, on leave as the Curt and Sue Culver Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin, where he co-directs the Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy. His research focuses on international economics, models of firm heterogeneity, and national income accounting (Google Scholar // IDEAS). He holds a B.S. in Economics from Bowling Green State University and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Minnesota.

In addition, he is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and was a special sworn researcher at the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, where he studied the ways that multinational firms produce and sell goods and services around the world. He is also a co-editor at the Journal of International Economics and an associate editor at the Review of Economic Dynamics.

Senior Staff and Chief Economists

Aaron Hedlund serves as Chief Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers, on leave as an associate professor economics at the Mitchell E. Daniels School of Business at Purdue University. He is also a Research Fellow at the St. Louis Federal Reserve, and served as the Director of Research and Director of the Center for American Prosperity at AFPI. Prior, he served as the Chief Domestic Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers where he helped design and execute emergency economic measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, helping coordinate the nationwide health IT data modernization that supported the Operation Warp Speed vaccine program, and analyzing the impact of core domestic priorities ranging from school choice to the Opportunity Zones program for economically distressed areas. Hedlund received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and his undergraduate degree in economics and mathematics from Duke University.

Jonathan Ketcham is the Chief Healthcare Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers, on leave as the Earl G. and Gladys C. Davis Distinguished Research Professor in Business in the W.P. Carey School’s Department of Marketing and Department of Economics at Arizona State University. His areas of expertise include pharmaceutical advertising and promotion, pharmacy benefit managers, health insurance, consumer decision making, physician decision making, hospital pricing, provider incentive programs and payment methods, fair market valuation, employee benefits, and insurance market design. He earned a B.A in Economics from Baylor University and a Ph.D. in Applied Economics from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Steven B. Levine is General Counsel and a Senior Advisor at the Council of Economic Advisers, where he is on detail from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). His most recent position at the SEC was Deputy Chief of Staff to Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda, and prior to that he served as counsel to Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda. Mr. Levine began his career at the SEC as a senior counsel in the Chief Counsel’s Office of the Division of Investment Management. Prior to joining the SEC in 2020, he was an associate at K&L Gates LLP, where he worked in the firm’s asset management and investment funds practice group. Mr. Levine is on the adjunct faculty at Georgetown University Law Center, where he has taught courses in Securities Regulation and Business Associations. Steven earned his B.A. from Tulane University and his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School.

Hugo Dante is Special Advisor to the Chairman and Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Before CEA, he led the financial services and housing practice at Washington Analysis, and served in a cross functional role on the International Financials and Digital Assets Team at Amazon Web Services. Hugo also served as an economist on the Republican Staff of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee and in the Office of the Chief Economist at the American Bankers Association. Hugo earned his B.S. in General Chemistry from the University of North Alabama and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University.

Senior Economists

Andre Barbe is a Senior Economist focusing on International Trade and Artificial Intelligence, on leave from his role as an Economist at the Office of Management and Budget and Affiliate Research Scientist at the University of Maryland. Prior to this, Barbe was the TechCongress Senior Fellow at the Senate Commerce Committee, a Consultant for the World Bank, and an International Economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics and Mathematics from Tulane University and his Ph.D. in Economics from Rice University.

Steven Braun has been CEA’s Director of Macroeconomic Forecasting since 1996. Prior to his current position, Dr. Braun was a senior economist at the Council, a senior economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, and an economist at the OECD. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from Harvard University.

Gustavo Ferreira is a Senior Economist focused on agricultural policy, agricultural commodity markets, and economic statecraft. He is on leave from his position of senior economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Gustavo also serves as an agricultural officer in the U.S. Army Reserves, is NATO’s Civil Expert on Agricultural and Food Security Issues in China, and was invited to testify before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Prior to joining the federal government, he was an assistant professor in agricultural economics at Virginia Tech University. He holds a PhD in agricultural economics from Louisiana State University, and his research has been published in economic and military journals and quoted by premier media outlets such as The Economist or the Financial Times. He received the USDA Economist of the Year Award and the Bruce Gardner Memorial Prize for Applied Policy and Analysis Award.

Theodore Figinski is a Senior Economist with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Economic Policy, focusing on public economics, taxation, and labor economics. His research has been accepted for publication in the ILR Review and the National Tax Journal. In recognition of his public service at Treasury, he received the Chase Award, the Treasury Secretary’s Honor Award. He earned his PhD in economics from the University of California, Irvine and his BS from Towson University.

Andrew C. Johnston is a Senior Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers, on leave as an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Texas, Austin. His research, which has been published in leading academic journals including the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the Journal of Political Economy, focuses on labor economics, unemployment insurance, and education policy. He is a faculty research fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research and has received grants from the Smith Richardson and Spencer Foundations. Johnston received his Ph.D. in Applied Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University.

Brett Matsumoto is a Senior Economist and on leave as a research economist at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. His research focus is on economic measurement. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a B.S. from the University of Delaware.

Diana G. Mikhail is a Senior Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers, with a focus on financial economics. She is on detail from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Economic and Risk Analysis. Her research interests include private equity, financial crises, banking, and corporate finance. Diana earned a Ph.D. and an M.Sc. in Financial Economics from Carnegie Mellon University, and an M.Sc. in Finance from George Washington University. Prior to her Ph.D., she worked at the International Monetary Fund.

Graham Newell is on leave from a position as Principal Economist at MITRE, a nonprofit organization that operators federally funded research and development centers. His research focuses on the intersection between international economics and national security with particular interest in geoeconomics, sanctions, economic statecraft, and the strategic use of economic tools in foreign policy. He earned his Ph.D. in economics from Florida State University and B.A. in economics from Virginia Tech.

Anastasia Shcherbakova previously was a senior consultant for Coherent Economics. Formerly, she was an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M’s Agricultural Economics Department. She is an applied economist focusing on issues of natural resource, environmental, and energy economics, regulation, and policy. She holds a PhD in Public Policy from the University of Chicago and has held previous academic appointments at Penn State University and the University of Texas at Dallas.

Dyanne Vaught is a Senior Economist on detail from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Economic Policy. Her work focuses on international trade, global supply chains, and the effects of trade on the U.S. economy, with particular emphasis on firm-level trade decisions. She earned her PhD in Economics and Public Policy from the University of Michigan and her BS from the College of Charleston.

Brian Wheaton is the Senior Economist for Macroeconomics at the Council of Economic Advisers, on leave from his role as Assistant Professor for Global Economics & Management from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Prior to this, he was a Hoover Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. His research covers a broad range of topics within macroeconomics and political economy, unified by a focus on the unintended or unexpected consequences of government policies and other shocks. He holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. from Harvard University and a B.A. from University of California, Berkeley.

Jobs & Internships

The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) recruits Senior Economists. Senior Economists have a Ph.D. in economics and are typically on leave from positions at universities, government agencies, or research organizations. Excellent research skills and strong presentation skills are needed. Senior Economists participate actively in the policy process, represent the CEA in interagency meetings, and have primary responsibility for the economic analysis and reports prepared by the Council. In recent years, Senior Economists have been faculty members from institutions such as Columbia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Harvard, Purdue, Williams, University of Georgia, UCLA, NYU, and economists from the Treasury, Federal Reserve Board, USDA, SEC, DOL, OMB, DOC, and DOE. It has been a productive and collegial team, and it is supported by an exceptionally strong staff of on-leave PhD students and recent college graduates. The CEA needs specialists in virtually every field of economics.

Most Senior Economists begin work at the Council in the summer and stay for a full academic year. CEA staff members must be U.S. citizens and may not also be citizens of another country.

If you are interested in applying for these positions, please send your C.V. by email to:

President’s Council of Economic Advisers
Email: recruiting@cea.eop.gov

Application deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

The United States Government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability and genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factor.

CEA Staff Economist Opportunities

CEA Staff Economist Job Description Download

The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is currently recruiting Staff Economists. The CEA provides the President with objective economic analysis and advice on the development and implementation of a wide range of domestic and international economic policy issues. Staff Economists are typically Ph.D. students on leave from top programs, and are integral members of the CEA team. They conduct advanced statistical analysis, contribute to reports distributed throughout the Administration and to Congress, and play a key role in producing the President’s daily economic briefing.

Staff Economists must be U.S. citizens and must be willing to be investigated for a security clearance. Most Staff Economists work at the Council for a full 12-month period.

If you are interested in applying for this position, please email your resume, transcript, a single-authored writing sample. We also request two letters of recommendation (at least one must be from an economist and should be submitted directly from the recommender) to:

President’s Council of Economic Advisers
Email: recruiting@cea.eop.gov

Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

CEA Research Economist Opportunities

CEA Research Economist Job Description Download

The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is currently recruiting Research Economists. The CEA provides the President with objective economic analysis and advice on the development and implementation of a wide range of domestic and international economic policy issues. In addition to being college graduates with extensive coursework in economics and statistics and a keen interest in public policy, Research Economists typically have 1-2 years of work experience and/or a Master’s degree in a related field. They support the research and analysis mission of the CEA by conducting statistical analysis and data collection, creating presentations, and writing literature reviews to ensure that recent academic research remains part of the policy process. Research Economists contribute to reports distributed throughout the Administration and to Congress and play a key role in producing the President’s Economic Briefings. They must be detail-oriented as they play a key role in ensuring the accuracy of CEA reports, Presidential speeches, and other documents.

Research Economists must be U.S. citizens and must be willing to be investigated for a security clearance. Most Research Economists begin work at the Council in the summer and stay for one to two years.

President’s Council of Economic Advisers
Email: recruiting@cea.eop.gov

Application deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

CEA Research Assistant Opportunities

CEA Research Assistant Job Description Download

The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is currently recruiting Research Assistants. The CEA provides the President with objective economic analysis and advice on the development and implementation of a wide range of domestic and international economic policy issues. Research Assistants are typically college graduates with extensive coursework in economics and statistics who have a keen interest in public policy. They support the research and analysis mission of the CEA by conducting statistical analysis and data collection, creating presentations, and writing literature reviews to ensure that recent academic research remains part of the policy process. Research Assistants must be detail-oriented as they play a key role in ensuring the accuracy of CEA reports, Presidential speeches, and other documents.

Research Assistants must be U.S. citizens and must be willing to be investigated for a security clearance. Most Research Assistants begin work at the Council in the summer and stay for one to two years.

President’s Council of Economic Advisers
Email: recruiting@cea.eop.gov

Application deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

CEA Internship Opportunities

CEA Internship Job Description Download

The White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is located in Washington, D.C. and offers full-time, in-person internships during the spring, fall, and summer. Interns at CEA are responsible for assisting staff in researching a wide range of macroeconomic, microeconomic, and international issues, analyzing data, and contributing towards the policy-making process. Administrative duties to support the work of the Council are also involved.

CEA interns work on exciting, challenging projects with real world implications. They earn valuable experience applying their quantitative and qualitative research skills on a daily basis and learn new ways to approach questions from CEA economists who serve as their mentors. The CEA internship program is designed to offer our interns a breadth of valuable professional development and networking experiences, including brownbag lunches with prominent economists and opportunities to connect with other agencies.

CEA provides the President with objective economic analysis and advice on the development and implementation of a wide range of domestic and international economic policy issues. The Council is comprised of a Chair and two Members; the Chair is Senate-confirmed, and all three are Presidential Appointees. The staff of the Council consists of Senior and Junior Economists, Research Assistants, and a statistical and administrative staff.

Requirements

All applicants must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age by the internship program start date. Additionally, applicants must meet the following criteria to be eligible:

Are currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program at a college, community college, or university (two-or-four-year institution) or have graduated from an undergraduate or graduate degree program in the past two years;
Have demonstrated interest in economics, statistics, mathematics, public policy, or finance with a strong academic record and passion for public service;
Have excellent writing and analytical skills;
Have experience using Microsoft Office and conducting research and analysis;
Priority will be given to interns with the ability to work full-time.
Preferred candidates will also have experience with Stata (or a similar statistical software).

Application details

If you are interested in applying, please send your resume, transcript, and cover letter via email to:

President’s Council of Economic Advisers
Email: recruiting@cea.eop.gov

Application Deadlines:

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis with a cut-off date approximately eight weeks in advance of the start date. Exact start and end dates are below.

All internship positions at the Council of Economic Advisers are unpaid. The United States Government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability and genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factor.

Internship Dates:

Spring 2026: January 12-May 7 (application cut-off date: November 15) (flexibility for students on a quarter system)

Summer 2026: May 18-August 14 (application cut-off date: February 13) (flexibility for students on a quarter system)