Patrick Power PRO
Economics PhD @ Boston University
The Final Lecture
The economics of Housing & Homelessness
Economics is the study of Relationships that
Shape / Influence/ Make up / Determine
the broader Economy
The Relationships Surrounding Housing & Homelessness are of Fundamental
Importance
April 24, 2023 -- LA Times
Research
Credible
Important
Choice Set
Research is important, but it's only a part of it
Focus on the Insight
It's very easy to have 25 pages written with lots of tables and regressions and very little insight
With Housing & Homelessness data, we can be very far from the metaphorical lamp post!
Research
Involvement
Journalist
Volunteer
Donate
Employment
What do you get energy from?
What do people come to you for?
When does it feel like play?
Personal Reflection
Why Pursue Economics?
Because Great Economic work asks a lot of the author
- On the ground experience
- Writing
- Programming
- Statistics
- People Skills
- Presenting
Always Something to Work on!
The Important Aspect
It's your people skills
What really matters is your people skills
- Not your coding skills so much (we have chatGPT!)
- Not your understanding of econometrics (it's just a local RCT after all!)
- Can you work productively in a team?
- Can you play on and off the ball?
- Can you engage and motive necessary stakeholders
The Purpose of This Class
- Further your interests and understanding of issues related to Housing & Homelessness
- To become a more self-aware writer
- To introduce you to developing statistical methods (fine-tuning LLMs)
- To become a better reader of the news and technical material
The Final Lecture
By Patrick Power
