Chris McCarthy, Ph.D.

Expertise and Consulting Area

Chris McCarthy is in his fourth year as a tenure-track assistant professor of economics & agribusiness at Chadron State College. McCarthy has been a consultant to private-sector companies for the past seven years. McCarthy has helped start-ups, up-starts, and established companies with business planning, financial planning, and early seed funding acquisition. McCarthy got his M.A. in economics from Colorado State University and his Ph.D. in economics from Colorado State University, with fields in monetary economics and political economy. McCarthy's dissertation was on the monetary consequences of U.S. military and economic aid spending abroad.  

McCarthy is an active member of the campus community. He is the president of the Chadron State College Education Association and serves on various committees and initiatives (Essential Studies Committee, Graduate Council, Accreditation Committee, Faculty Development Grant Committee, Rural Business Leadership Initiative). McCarthy spearheaded and created an e-sports club and has grown it into a competitive team with the help and coordination of the college’s president.  

McCarthy is currently in three working research groups. The first research group is a regression analysis of historical data on economics and accounting student performances. They aim to assess whether online learning or in-person learning has a significant difference in the educational outcome (as well as whether traditional-age students vs. adult students fare better in online or in-person classes). The other working research group is analyzing how increased automation impacts the ability of governments to tax and spend, specifically as it relates to programs highly dependent on payroll taxes (e.g., Social Security and Medicare). The third research group is some institutional research related to Chadron State's academic appeals process and its effectiveness on student retention/completion of their degrees. 

He is also a member of the 5-person committee, the treasury management and diversification committee for Shapeshift DAO, a web3/crypto organization that facilitates transaction fee-free exchanges of cryptocurrency. The committee manages a treasury that varies in size (due to market conditions) from 5-10 million dollars (although none of it is fiat, it is all either in stablecoin or the utility/governance token used in the shapeshift ecosystem--FOX). 

Lastly, McCarthy is the Chief Economist for Crowdsolve.Eco, a platform/home for climate innovators. Crowdsolve pairs new innovators (pre-incubation) with mentors and guides them through a curriculum to get them ready for incubation and/or funding. He runs the tokenomics (token economics) of the project and is one of the leads in terms of the gamification/incentivization of the platform. 

Academic Degrees

Master of Arts in economics from Colorado State University

Doctor of Philosophy in economics from Colorado State University