In a disturbing development you may have heard of, the proportion of American college students completing their degrees in a timely fashion has taken a sharp turn south. Like Caine’s journey, the Way of ’Metrics is illuminated by questions. As he searches, Caine questions all he sees in human affairs, uncovering hidden relationships and deeper meanings. Caine, a mixed-race Shaolin monk, wanders in search of his U.S.-born half-brother in the nineteenth century American West.
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In this spirit, we draw inspiration from the journey of Kwai Chang Caine, hero of the classic Kung Fu TV series. There is a mystical aspect to our work as well: we’re after truth, but truth is not revealed in full, and the messages the data transmit require interpretation. The tools of the ’metrics trade are disciplined data analysis, paired with the machinery of statistical inference. We approach these questions coolly, however, armed not with passion but with data.Įconomists’ use of data to answer cause-and-effect questions constitutes the field of applied econometrics, known to students and masters alike as ’metrics. Will mandatory health insurance really make Americans healthier? Such policy kindling lights the fires of talk radio. The big questions of the day are our questions: Will loose monetary policy spark economic growth or just fan the fires of inflation? Iowa farmers and the Federal Reserve chair want to know. The excitement in our work comes from the opportunity to learn about cause and effect in human affairs. Economics is as exciting as any science can be: the world is our lab, and the many diverse people in it are our subjects.
MASTER PO: Young man, how is it that you do not?Įconomists’ reputation for dismality is a bad rap. KWAI CHANG CAINE: Old man, how is it that you hear these things? MASTER PO: Do you hear the grasshopper that is at your feet? MASTER PO: Do you hear your own heartbeat? YOUNG KWAI CHANG CAINE: I hear the water, I hear the birds.
Does health insurance make you healthier? Randomized experiments provide answers. The five most valuable econometric methods, or what the authors call the Furious Five-random assignment, regression, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity designs, and differences in differences-are illustrated through well-crafted real-world examples (vetted for awesomeness by Kung Fu Panda's Jade Palace). Through accessible discussion and with a dose of kung fu–themed humor, Mastering 'Metrics presents the essential tools of econometric research and demonstrates why econometrics is exciting and useful. 'Metrics encompasses the statistical methods economists use to untangle cause and effect in human affairs. From Joshua Angrist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, and Jörn-Steffen Pischke, an accessible and fun guide to the essential tools of econometric researchĪpplied econometrics, known to aficionados as 'metrics, is the original data science.