Internships in Economics

Looking for more internships in Economics? Check out the most recent internship postings in Economics.

Below you'll find all of the companies that we've covered that may offer internships in Economics. You can also look at entry level jobs in Economics.

Bipartisan Policy Center

by on February 8, 2014

Bipartisan Policy Center Logo

We can all agree… that we can all agree on some things sometimes–even when it comes to politics. I tend to like when the disagreement between the two parties locks things up because it means that the government won’t be able to break anything else; however, I understand that occasionally we need our government to actually accomplish something. The Bipartisan Policy Center is a Washington, DC based non-profit that encourages the two parties to work together on important issues where ideological differences can be worked through. The organization was “founded in 2007 by former Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole and George Mitchell,” so it truly is a bipartisan effort.

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Doorways to Dreams Fund

by on January 18, 2014

Doorways to Dreams Fund Logo

Our federal, state, and local governments do a lot of things that are bad for their constituents, but one of the worst has to be state-run lotteries. They are great at generating income for things like schools, but they are a massive regressive tax that disproportionately harms lower-income individuals. It’s almost as if people see lotteries as a savings account instead of a long shot bet. For a long time I’ve had an idea that state lotteries should be transitioned into an investment vehicle. Imagine how much better off people would be if a one dollar scratch off ticket contributed 50 cents to savings account, 40 cents to prizes, and 10 cents to education or something similar. You could even engineer it so that people win “prizes” out of their own savings accounts. To my surprise I recently learned about a non-profit that is working on similar ideas. It’s called Doorways to Dreams Fund, and they’re based in Allston, MA. They work “with the financial services industry, government agencies, national non-profit groups, grassroots community agencies, and public policy organizations to generate promising ideas, pilot test financial products and services, build awareness of the needs and potential of low-income communities, and advocate inclusive social and economic policies.”

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Ducks Unlimited

by on October 19, 2013

Ducks Unlimited Logo

Garçon went on his first hunt yesterday (he still needs to grow into his tracking collar). A friend of mine took us along with his well-experienced dog to try to find some grouse and woodcock. The search was unsuccessful, but Garçon loved running through the woods and learning to use his nose. He’s more of an upland dog, but I hope at some point we’ll be able to hunt ducks together too–because I love ducks. Many of you are probably asking, “If you love ducks so much, why would you want to shoot them?” The simple answer is because they’re delicious, but the more complicated answer is that the people who utilize a resource are often the ones who care for it the most. Without an organization like Ducks Unlimited, our waterfowl population wouldn’t be close to what they are today. The Memphis, TN based non-profit has become “the world’s leader in wetlands and waterfowl conservation” because a small group of hunters were worried about the loss of wetlands habitat and what it would do to the ducks.

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Group of Fifty

by on May 19, 2013

Group of Fifty Logo

Latin America is a region with amazing economic potential. I haven’t spent a ton of time there, but I’ve spent enough to know that the business climate is very different from the U.S., and can vary significantly from country to country. Still, the economies of Latin American countries are very closely tied to each other, and that makes it extremely important that there is cooperation and communication amongst the business community. The Group of Fifty is a Washington, DC based non-profit that is made up of select “business leaders who head some of the most significant and forward-looking enterprises in Latin America.” The organization provides “a forum for the leaders of the region’s most important companies to address changes as they appear in different sectors and markets, to hear from their peers in other countries about alternative business strategies, and to compare experiences and exchange ideas about the future of the hemisphere, its economies and its politics.”

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TrueCar

by on February 18, 2013

TrueCar Logo

If there’s a holiday without an identity, it has to be President’s Day. A lot of people don’t even get the day off any more, and the only other thing to get excited about is getting a deal on a car or mattress. If you know how to shop, you usually don’t have to wait for these “once a year” sales. In fact, buying a car is becoming a lot more straightforward because of companies like TrueCar. They’re based in Santa Monica, CA, and they offer a “hassle-free car-buying experience from a nationwide network of certified dealers.” By putting data to work for car buyers, they’ve information asymmetry that dealers have used to their advantage for so long. In fact, TrueCar’s data and network are so good that they’re able to guarantee savings.

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Social Impact

by on February 7, 2013

Social Impact Logo

As you’ve probably noticed, we cover non-profit internships on the weekends. Occasionally I come across a company that feels like it should be on the weekend, but rules are rules (even if I’ve created them arbitrarily). Social Impact is one of those companies. They’re an Arlington, VA based management consulting firm and “global social enterprise dedicated to helping international agencies, civil society and governments become more effective agents of positive social and economic change.” Social Impact was founded in 1996 has grown to serve five regions: Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia & Pacific, Latin America & Caribbean, Europ & Central Aisa, and Middle East & North Africa.

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Consumer Electronics Association Logo

In case you haven’t noticed, we always feature non-profits on weekend. The vast majority of the non-profits that we profile are 501(c)(3)–organizations defined as “Religious, Educational, Charitable, Scientific, Literary, Testing for Public Safety, to Foster National or International Amateur Sports Competition, or Prevention of Cruelty to Children or Animals.” But there are actually 28 types of 501(c) tax-exempt non-profit organizations. Today we’re going to look at the Consumer Electronics Association, which is 501(c)(6) “business league” based in Arlington, VA. They have a simple mission of working with their 2,000+ industry members to “grow the consumer electronics industry.”

Do You Consume Electronics?

You’ve probably heard of the Consumer Electronics Show (if not, it’s a massive electronics show), it’s put on by the CEA. It’s a way for all of their members (pretty much every major brand in the industry) to show off the latest and greatest. The show is probably the most public thing that the CEA does, but they also have a number of other initiatives. These include Market Research, Networking Events, Policy Advocacy, Technical Training, Technology Standards, and Member to Member Promotion. It’s interesting to see many of the CEA’s members fighting tooth and nail against each other in the marketplace, and then seeing them work together for the betterment of the industry. There’s obviously a careful balance. If you love consumer electronics and want to work for the CEA, check out their Internships page. Right now they’re looking for paid interns in:

These look like really amazing internship opportunities, so check them out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite consumer electronic?

World Economic Forum

by on March 4, 2012

The World Economic Forum Logo

I think it’s pretty mind blowing how interconnected the world economies have become during my lifetime. While international trade has existed for many thousands of years, never before have people had to rely so heavily on the production of others half way around the world. I generally think this is a great thing, but many issues come along with the growth. The World Economic Forum is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1971 by Klaus Schwab in Geneva, Switzerland to be “committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.” The World Economic Forum, which also has offices in New York, NY and Beijing, China, is probably best known for its annual meeting at Davos where they bring together some of the world’s most important leaders to engage on some of the most pressing issues.

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Qcue

by on February 21, 2012

Qcue Logo

As of today pitchers and catchers have reported to Spring Training for every team except for the White Sox, Marlins, and Rangers. Baseball is here, and I couldn’t be happier. Last year I went to games at Wrigley, U.S. Cellular, and Yankee Stadium, and every time I paid under face value for my tickets. How’d I do that? I use StubHub and wait until 3-4 hours before the game starts and buy while people are trying to dump tickets that will soon be worth nothing. Markets work best when you have many buyers and sellers, and that’s why I’m able to get such good deals. The big loser in all this is the original ticketing agent. Because their prices are set many months in advance, they can’t react to market conditions. Usually they end up sitting on a ton of unsold tickets, but even when an event sells out, they lose. If they had priced properly, they could have extracted much more value out of the tickets (instead the scalpers get the surplus value). Yesterday, I read an article about how a company called Qcue is changing all of this. They’re based in Austin, TX, and they’ve developed technology that helps teams price their tickets dynamically.

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Macmillan

by on February 10, 2012

Macmillan Logo

There are some industries where company histories gets really confusing. Mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies, name changes, and all kinds of other events make it hard to truly understand what parts of the story are meaningful. I’ve found this especially prevalent with financial institutions, advertising agencies, and publishers. We’re going to talk about the latter today. Macmillan is the New York, NY based face of a “group of publishing companies in the United States held by Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck” (a German company). As I read through their history, I got a bit overwhelmed. It starts in 1843 with two Scottish brothers, and includes the story about a completely different publisher named Macmillan. While understanding Macmillan’s history is important, it’s far more important to understand their future, which might include you.

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American Greetings

by on March 15, 2011

American Greetings Logo

I can’t remember the last time that I bought a greeting card, but I can remember the last time that I was part of the purchasing process. A good friend of mine was getting married, and he needed a card for his soon to be wife. Because of the dearth of cards for brides from their grooms, I made it my job to suggest alternatives. Trying to convince a stressed out groom to give his new wife a condolences card probably isn’t the nicest thing to do, but it’s certainly entertaining. Yes, greeting cards can be funny, but there’s more to them than that. That’s why American Greetings calls themselves the “leading manufacturer of innovative social expression products that assist consumers in enhancing their relationships.” The Cleveland, OH based company is the largest publicly-traded greeting card company in the world, and their brands include American Greetings, Carlton Cards, Gibson, Recycled Paper Greetings, and Papyrus along with a number of other paper products and online brands.

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Gerson Lehrman Group

by on November 23, 2010

Gerson Lehrman Group Logo

Sometimes I get dubbed as a career expert. I guess in some ways that’s true, but I see myself more as an entrepreneur whose business is helping students and grads find jobs and internships. In my opinion it takes way more knowledge and experience to become an expert. I’m talking about people with PhDs and 30 years of experience, and, amazingly, there are experts on nearly every topic. But how do you find them when you need them? That’s where Gerson Lehrman Group comes in. They’re professional matchmakers when it comes to experts. Since 1998 they’ve created a global marketplace for expertise and “helped the world’s leading institutions find, engage, and manage experts across a broad range of industries and disciplines.” I have friends who have actually used Gerson Lehrman Group in their jobs to find experts, and I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews about the people at Gerson Lehrman Group and their experts (who are not employed by the firm).

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The Cadmus Group

by on November 18, 2010

The Cadmus Group Logo

I’m sure that you keep hearing about the green job revolution and how environmentalist ideals are actually going to start fueling economic growth (instead of hindering it), yet you’re probably wondering where all of these opportunities are. Most of the green internships that I come across are either in the non-profit or energy sectors. However, if you look a little more closely there are a lot more options—some of which have been around a lot longer than you would have expected. Take The Cadmus Group in Watertown, MA for example. They were founded in 1983 to “take advantage of a change in how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) procured contractor support,” and they’ve evolved into a leading environmental consulting firm. They’ve done this by gathering “the best minds across a variety of disciplines to help address the nation’s most pressing environmental, energy, and health challenges.

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MCG

by on October 20, 2010

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MCG Logo

For the past couple of months we’ve been including more numbers than usual in our daily posts—things like three-year growth rates and annual revenues. Since we’ve been looking mostly at companies on the Inc. 500, we figure that it’s useful information. If simple numbers like those intimidate you, then today’s company is definitely not for you. However, if your response to our daily posts is to seek out more numbers and dig into annual reports and other similar documents, then you’re in luck. MCG is a Providence, RI based company that does mathematical, statistical, and strategic consulting. Their motto is “Nothing is too complex.” The first person listed on their Management Team page is their Chief Analytics Officer, so that should tell you a lot about MCG’s focus. And I almost forgot—MCG has grown at an 834.4% rate over the past three years to $2.2 million in revenue (they were only founded in 2006).

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The Urban Institute

by on October 2, 2010

The Urban Institute Logo

One of the wonderful things about running this site is all of the reader e-mails that I get. Some of my favorites are from readers who have had success stories about internships they’ve landed through the site, but I also love it when you guys introduce me to companies or organizations that I haven’t heard of. One reader recently wrote me to recommend The Urban Institute, where he had been temping. It’s a Washington, DC based non-profit that does “nonpartisan economic and social policy research.” They were founded in 1968 in response to President Johnson’s call for “independent nonpartisan analysis of the problems facing America’s cities and their residents,” and they now work in all 50 states and in more than 28 countries.

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MITRE

by on April 3, 2010

MITRE Logo

Not many of the companies on Fast Company’s list of “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies” are non-profit, and not many non-profits generate over $1 billion in annual revenue, but MITRE fits both criteria. I know that many of you want to see fewer technical internships, but I’ve also noticed that most of the non-profit internships that we feature on weekends aren’t very technical. MITRE, which has headquarters in Bedford, MA and McLean, VA offers an exception. They are an “organization chartered to work in the public interest” through “expertise in systems engineering, information technology, operational concepts, and enterprise modernization.” They do this work through “four Federally Funded Research and Development Centers,” with one focused on the Department of Defense, one on the Federal Aviation Administration, one on the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, and one for the Department of Homeland Security.

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The Economist

by on February 22, 2010

The Economist Logo

I’ll admit it, I don’t read The Economist regularly, but plenty of my friends do—mostly the smart ones. It’s a magazine (they call themselves a newspaper, but you’d likely identify it as a magazine) that stands apart from other periodicals in a variety of ways. It’s not the topics that they cover—they offer both news coverage and analysis and opinion on business and politics—it’s more the way that they cover those topics. The most interesting thing about The Economist is the fact that all of their articles are written anonymously. It’s about “a belief that what is written is more important than who writes it,” but you have to like the fact that anonymity allows the writers the freedom that they need to address topics in the ways that they should be addressed. The Economist is all about free trade and free markets, yet it “considers itself the enemy of privilege, pomposity and predictability.” The Economist is based in London, but they are very much an international business and magazine.

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Ceteris

by on February 10, 2010

Ceteris Logo

The way that large corporations operate often boggles my mind. Take for example my friend who worked in the internal consulting division of a massive, well-known company. Despite being owned and operated by the company, his division had to bid against outside consulting firms for projects. There was a good reason for this (it forced the internal consulting division to watch its back), but it still seems a bit ridiculous. Another example of this kind of thinking is transfer pricing (don’t worry, I had to look it up too). It’s the “pricing of contributions (assets, tangible and intangible, services, and funds) transferred within an organization.” At first it may seem that since all of the money is going to the same place pricing things that are transferred within an organization doesn’t really matter. Unfortunately, that would cause all of the accountants in an organization (and the IRS too) to have a fit. So how do companies price these transfers? There’s no external market to set the price, and trying to do it internally can get really messy. That’s when companies bring in Ceteris a “global independent consulting firm specializing in transfer pricing, intellectual property and valuation services” that is headquartered in Chicago.

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Intrade

by on January 20, 2010

Intrade Logo

Rarely do we feature companies that aren’t at least partially US based, but sometimes there are companies so interesting or relevant that I have to share them with you even though it would require a serious move (and probably some visa acrobatics) for you to land a job with them. Today we’re going to look at Ireland’s Intrade, a company that runs prediction markets. I originally learned about Intrade from Freakonomics, but I became more interested yesterday with the election in Massachusetts. A prediction market falls somewhere between betting and investing—it allows you to buy contracts that either pay out or don’t based on a given outcome. For example there was a time yesterday before polls closed when you could have purchased a contract for $70 that would have paid out $100 if the Republican nominee, Scott Brown, won the Massachusetts Senate election. The price of a contract reflects the probability that a given event will happen—a $70 contract represents a 70% likelihood.

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Roubini Global Economics

by on December 7, 2009

Roubini Global Economics Logo

Remember that time that you predicted the walk off home run during the baseball game or the fact that your friend would get back together with his girlfriend for the 7th time? Of course you do. It was proof of your psychic abilities. Remember the time that you made a similar prediction but were wrong? Of course not. When you only count your wins and not your losses, it’s easy to have a perfect record. Politicians take advantage of this all the time. The truth is that there aren’t a lot of people out there who are good at predicting things, whether it’s weather, the economy, sports, or any number of other things. Nouriel Roubini may be an exception. He could be insanely “lucky” with the fact that his descriptions and predictions of the current financial crisis were dead on, but you have to give him credit for the amount of detail included in his predictions, like when he said “the United States was likely to face a once-in-a-lifetime housing bust, an oil shock, sharply declining consumer confidence and, ultimately, a deep recession.” He’s very obviously a brilliant guy, and he’s also the founder of New York City based Roubini Global Economics, a company that provides “a uniquely tailored look at the logic of the global economy” for its clients.

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National Public Radio

by on July 12, 2009

National Public Radio Logo

A child’s first sign of teenage (pre-teenage?) rebellion often begins at the radio dial. The parent’s up-to-this-point unchallenged decision of what to listen to while in the car is called into question, and all hell breaks loose. If there are multiple kids in the family (or even just in the car), the negotiation can quickly becom more heated than a multi-lateral peace process in a war-torn nation. The parent will fight hard to maintain his or her right to National Public Radio, but the kid will persist in his or her challenge to hear something that feeds a suddenly “eclectic” taste in music. Often the parents cede this battle in hopes of winning in the future (bad idea!), which results in the parent’s driving the kids around the mini-van listening to rap music that would be a lot more offensive if the parent knew what some of the words meant. Eventually the rebellious tykes will grow up and realize that they too want to be more cultured, and they slowly, but surely come around to listening to NPR. Or maybe some kids just never speak up. They like NPR from the start. Maybe those are the ones who end up taking internships at NPR.

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The White House

by on March 2, 2009

The White House Logo

Ok, we all know that White House interns don’t have the best track record, so let’s not even go there. We also all know that there hasn’t been a time in recent history where the government’s role has seemed so important. Wherever your political views lie, right now would have to be one of the coolest times to be an intern at The White House. An expanding government may not be good for us young people in the long run, but you can reap the benefits now by taking one of the many internships that The White House is offering. There’s plenty of information on the White House available, so I don’t think that I need to go any further.

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Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Logo

If there’s ever a time to intern at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, it is now. What’s the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency? It’s a bureau of the the U.S. Department of the Treasury that was chartered in 1863 to ensure a safe and sound national banking system for all Americans. How do they do that? They have a nationwide staff that “conducts on-site reviews of national banks and provides sustained supervision of bank operations. The agency issues rules, legal interpretations, and corporate decisions concerning banking, bank investments, bank community development activities, and other aspects of bank operations.” I think that it’s pretty obvious why the OCC has become a lot busier in the past couple of years. So instead of worrying about how there will be no jobs in finance when you graduate, you should see if you can land an internship with one of the government agencies that is dealing with our banking problems head on.

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Federal Reserve Board

by on March 18, 2008

Federal Reserve Board Logo

“May you live in interesting times.” It’s allegedly a translation of a Chinese proverb, but Wikipedia can’t even figure out who actually said it first. Regardless, an internship at the Federal Reserve Board should be extremely “interesting” over the next year (at the very least). With Bear Stearns almost falling into bankruptcy, and a lot of other investment banks in trouble, an internship in finance doesn’t look nearly as attractive as it did last semester. Still, if you’re interested in economics, finance, or a related field, a job at the Federal Reserve Board is a great alternative. Although connected to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Federal Reserve Board is a different entity. If you don’t already know, the Fed, which is led by Chairman Ben Bernanke, is responsible for crafting the monetary policy that supports the American economy.

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Council of Economic Advisers Logo

The President’s Council of Economic Advisers is exactly what you’d expect it to be, a group of economists who advise the President on economic matters and drive the policy that the President pursues. The current Chairman is Edward Lazear (he wrote one of the more interesting economics textbooks that I encountered in college), and former Chairs include Ben Bernanke (current Chairman of the Fed) and N. Gregory Mankiw (a Harvard professor and one of my favorite bloggers). You can see that the council is a collection of the finest minds in economics; hence, an internship with the CEA is just what any budding economist needs to get started. Whether you’re looking to go into finance, government, or academia, there are few better opportunities.

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