Dr. Ekaterina Brancato teaches Economics for the Citizen for TFAS Academic Internship Programs in Washington, D.C.
She received her Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University, where she was awarded the Israel M. Kirzner Prize for Outstanding Dissertation. Dr. Brancato continued her professional career as a cost analyst, financial economist, and program manager, while teaching as an adjunct professor and actively participating in academic conferences and forums.
She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses for over a decade at institutions including George Washington University, New York University, and George Mason University. Her teaching spans development economics, political economy, international trade and finance, institutional economics, money and banking, macro- and microeconomic principles, and the history of economic thought. Her approach emphasizes free market principles and the economic way of thinking, with applications to current events and policy.
Outside of academia, most of Dr. Brancato’s career has supported the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, and Department of Homeland Security, where her work has included leading life cycle cost estimates, managing interdisciplinary research efforts, financial risk analysis, and overseeing the development of business case analyses and economic models in areas such as AI/ML integration. Her publications span a range of economic topics, including international trade, money and banking, social networks and transaction costs, economic history, economic and supply chain risk related to critical minerals and international credit ratings.