Benjamin VanMetre is an Associate Analyst in the Public Finance Group at Moody's Investors Services, Inc. (Chicago). Prior to that, he was a Senior Budget and Tax Policy Analyst at the Illinois Policy Institute. Ben earned his Master of Arts degree in Economics from George Mason University while a Mercatus MA Fellow at the Mercatus Center. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Beloit College where he completed a double major in Economics and Management and Psychology. His research interests include state and local economic policy, entrepreneurship, institutional arrangements, and economic freedom.
Ben's work has appeared in several outlets including Forbes, the Chicago Tribune, Economic Affairs, the Cato Journal, the Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, the Maryland Journal, the Journal of Business and Economic Perspectives, the Journal of the James Madison Institute, and the second volume of the Wealth and Well-Being of Nations. He has also contributed to the Mercatus Center's Neighborhood Effects blog.