Ian Vásquez is the director of the Cato Institute's Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity. His articles have appeared in newspapers throughout the United States and Latin America, and he is a columnist at El Comercio (Peru). Vásquez has appeared on CNBC, NBC, C-SPAN, CNN, Telemundo, Univisión, and Canadian Television, as well as National Public Radio and Voice of America, discussing foreign policy and development issues.

He received his bachelor's degree from Northwestern University and his master's degree from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He is the co-author of The Human Freedom Index, editor of Global Fortune: The Stumble and Rise of World Capitalism and coeditor of Perpetuating Poverty: The World Bank, the IMF and the Developing World. He has testified numerous times in the U.S. Congress on economic development issues.

Vásquez has been a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a member of the Mont Pèlerin Society.