Dr. Erik W. Matson is a Senior Research Fellow at the Gibbons Institute for Human Ecology at The Catholic University of America, a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center, and Co-Director of the Adam Smith Program at George Mason University. He earned his PhD in economics from George Mason University in 2017 and held a postdoctoral fellowship at New York University in the Department of Economics from 2018 to 2020. He is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies at Reformed Theological Seminary in Washington D.C.

Dr. Matson’s research focuses on the history and philosophy of political economy (especially in eighteenth-century Britain) and on theological dimensions of economic thought. His research has been published in many flagship peer-reviewed journals including History of Political Economy, Southern Economic Journal, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Journal of the History of Economic Thought, European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, and Journal of Scottish Philosophy. His popular writings have appeared in prominent conservative and classically liberal outlets including Law & Liberty, Providence, and National Review. Along with Daniel Klein, he edits a monthly essay series at the Cato Institute’s libertarianism.org called “Just Sentiments."

Dr. Matson has edited and authored several academic books. Most recently, he is the coauthor, along with Jordan Ballor, of A History of Christian Political Economy: From the Patristics to the Present and co-editor, also with Ballor, of a companion volume of primary texts, Sources in Christian Political Economy: A Reader. Both volumes were published in 2026 by B&H Academic.

Dr. Matson has received numerous recognitions for his academic achievements, including the 2022 Michael Novak Award from the Acton Institute for his “outstanding research in the fields of ethics, politics, and economics.”