Paper of the week (POW) this week goes to "Designing Difference in Difference Studies: Best Practices for Public Health Policy Research" by Coady Wing and coauthors published in the Annual Review of Public Health. 

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It contains a lot of useful reminders on best practices for empirical strategies that rely on difference-in-difference estimators.

Very helpful! Used it this morning in exploring some preliminary results. 

"Persistent Political Engagement: Social Interactions and the Dynamics of Protest Movements " by Leonardo Brusztyn and numerous coauthors came up while doing some research this week, and is certainly now the paper of the week (POW).

A copy of the abstract, the thrilling bits of which are in bold: 

"We test whether participation in one protest within a political movement increases subsequent protest attendance, and why. To identify an effect of protest participation, we randomly, indirectly incentivize Hong Kong university students into participation in an antiauthoritarian protest. To identify the effects of social interactions, we randomize the intensity of this treatment across major-cohort cells. We find that experimentally-induced protest participation is significantly associated with protest attendance one year later, though political beliefs and preferences are unaffected. Persistent political engagement is greatest among individuals in the cells with highest treatment intensity, suggesting that social interactions sustained persistent political engagement."

A working paper version that is publicly available through Google may be found below.

My 30 mile drive to work leaves me with ample time to listen to audiobooks and podcasts.

So why not just compile a list of great economics, finance, and business podcasts!

(in no particular order)

General Economics

1. Freakonomics Radio with Steve Dubner and Steve Levitt
2. Capitalisn't by Luigi Zingales and Kate Waldock.
3. Planet Money by NPR
4. London School of Economics Public Lectures & Events
5. EconTalk with Russ Roberts (tends to dwell on philosophy)
6. Economics Amplified by the Becker Friedman Institute

Trade and Macro

1. Trade Talks with Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown
2. Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Behavioral Economics

1. Behavioral Grooves
   
2. The Brainy Business
   

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I have the honor of being "Faculty Senator" for Farmingdale State College, which means that I represent Farmingdale at the "University Faculty Senate" (UFS). UFS is the legal channel through which the faculty influences system-wide SUNY policy. It meets once per semester to vote on resolutions and get policy updates from administrators.

The UFS trips are always a joy for numerous reasons:

1. The colleagues that attend are fantastic people. They are like-minded in their desire to make SUNY as great as it can be in about all dimensions: accessibility, quality, diversity, etc.
2. The networking opportunity is fantastic, you will always meet someone new. This Plenary I met the Chancellor, the chair of the Board of Trustees, and a mission-oriented CDO from College at Brockport who I think has many tools to help some challenges facing our campus. 
3. The travel - Meetings are upstate more frequently than not. I am totally fine with this because I currently love  just about anything upstate New York. UFS travel, so far, has allowed me to visit Syracuse, Saratoga Springs, Cooperstown, and most recently Albany.

Pics below of the incredible SUNY System Administration building .

A more centered view from the front shows there are flags for each campus decorating the plaza.

So naturally, I had to find where our flag is. It turns out we are right near the entrance!

It's also exquisite at night:

What a building!

"Mr. Hansen's models could lead a casual observer to conclude that race plays a
significantly larger role in Harvard s admissions process than it actually does... The models
incorporate far fewer variables than those prepared by the parties economic experts for this
litigation and omit many variables that are important to the admissions process. Compare [PX12
at 33 ] , with [ PD38 at 26 ]. Even Mr. Hansen's most complete model almost certainly suffers
from considerable omitted variable bias in light of the likely correlation between race and
important variables that Mr. Hansen did not include. Most notably, his models contain no
controls for socioeconomic and family circumstances that correlate with race and also affect
admissions decisions. See [PX12 at 33] . Given these deficiencies in the models, they are
entitled to little weight for the purpose of determining whether Harvard discriminates against
Asian American applicants, particularly given the availability of the experts far more
comprehensive models and the testimony offered by fact witnesses in this case. See Oct 19 Tr.
19: 19– 20:8... Hansen's models do suggest, consistent with other evidence, that Asian
Americans applicants excel in academic metrics; that tips for legacies and recruited athletes
result in more white students being admitted; that a projection of Harvard' s class based only on
the profile ratings, academic metrics, and athlete and legacy statuses is incomplete and results in
a projected class that is vastly less racially diverse than the one Harvard achieves; and that ,
absent any consideration of race,Harvard s classes would have drastically fewer African
American and Hispanic students."