Ike Brannon is a visiting fellow at the Cato Institute who specializes in fiscal policy, tax reform, and regulatory issues. He was previously a senior fellow for the Bush Institute and before that was director of economic policy for the American Action Forum. Brannon has also served as the chief economist for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, chief economist for the Republican Policy Committee, senior adviser for tax policy at the U.S. Treasury, principal economic adviser for Senator Orrin Hatch on the Senate Finance Committee, chief economist for the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, and senior economist for the Office of Management and Budget. He was also chief economist for the John McCain campaign in 2008 as well as an associate professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. His work has appeared in The Weekly Standard, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg View, USA Today, and The Hill.

Brannon has a PhD in economics from Indiana University and a BA in math, Spanish, and economics from Augustana College in Rock Island, Ilinois. He also runs the Savings and Retirement Foundation and the Prosperity Caucus.