Christine P. Ries studies and teaches principles of free market economics and their application in corporate decision-making and the creation of economic value for companies and countries around the globe. This work ties together foreign exchange risk management, corporate decisions, strategy, and corporate value. She has addressed corporate political risk in assessing how corporate strategies predict and respond to shifts in government trade, commercial, and capital control policies. For governments, especially in emerging market countries, she has advised on how tax, regulation, and capital control policies and laws alter the country's relative competitiveness and attract or repel foreign investment. This work has been published in many scholarly and professional articles, case studies, and several books and has supported an active consulting and executive education experience.

In 2010, Ries was appointed to a special council tasked with recommending a complete restructuring of Georgia's tax laws, raising the challenge of explaining pro-growth tax reform to the public. She created an online tax modeling calculator to facilitate a greater public understanding of tax policy dynamics and improve the quality of public discussion. The calculator is widely used in Georgia, and adoption in several other states is under consideration. Her senior students in economics study the economic impact of new investments on economic growth in Georgia and have presented their work to the state legislature.