Steven Byers, Ph.D. is the Senior Economist with Common Sense Institute, responsible for conducting research on issues important to the Colorado economy.

Prior to joining CSI in February 2022, Steven spent three years working for the Coalition for a Prosperous America, a nonprofit organization consisting of manufacturing, agricultural, labor, consumer, and citizen interest groups, where he conducted research on the U.S. economy, international trade, and tariffs. Highlights of this research include a paper titled, “Decoupling from China – An Economic Analysis of the Impact on the U.S. Economy of a Permanent Tariff on Chinese Imports” for which he and a co-author won the National Association for Business Economics Edmund A. Mennis Contributed Paper Award.

Steven’s experience as an economist spans twenty-three years, including work at federal regulatory agencies (SEC, CFTC, PCAOB) and quantitative economic analysis supporting international trade litigation cases brought before the U.S. International Trade Commission. His work at CSI is an extension of his graduate work studying the Colorado economy. His Ph.D. dissertation topic was based on a computable general equilibrium model (CGE) he developed to evaluate the economic impact of regional tax incentives in a small city (Fort Collins, CO).