Michelle Albert Vachris is Professor of Economics and the BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism at Christopher Newport University (CNU).  She earned a B.A. in Economics from the College of William and Mary and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University.  Before arriving at CNU, she was an economist with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in the International Price Program where she worked on export and import price indexes and purchasing power parities.  She has since served as a consultant on international statistics for the BLS and the International Monetary Fund. She is a past-president of the Virginia Association of Economists.  Dr. Vachris’ fields of interest are Industrial Organization and International Economics, and she pursues research concerning economic freedom, public choice, and teaching pedagogy.