Geoffrey Yip 🔸

Finally got to discuss proof-based math with IRL humans and oh my god peer effects are so real

@krisgulati been thinking the same lately! also this is the most concise rambling I've ever seen. pls ramble more.

I wrote a blog on how I’d define scientific taste! If you skip the inane rambling and self-indulgent story time - and skip to the end which gets to the point. chris974648.substack.com/p/what-is-scie…

I’m really excited about this paper! Some of my work has pointed out problems in empirical work, but this one is all about new 🔧s. If you (or your referees) want to know about the mechanisms by which a treatment affects an outcome, you may be interested. A 🧵.

no regrets about my career path but if I could redo it, I would have done literally any econ phd in 2015 instead of the one I'm doing now

1) having a blast so far 2) eh was gonna be a workaholic anyways 3) hated finance and tolerated tech so not much money lost 4) after 5 years, same financial trajectory but more intellectual fulfillment Conditional on being a US state uni undergrad with social sector ambitions

@bergerthor There’s also an AER (P&P?) that opens with “Americans are getting fat”

One reason I love economists is that they really do explain their work to me like I'm five.

@mean_field_zane Maybe "how partial insurability complicates inaction problems"? Already a pretty good hook and implies a dynamic setting

I am trying to generally boil my area of interest down to a simple statement. I usually give “economic dynamics” which is too broad or “macro labour/finance with pretty math” which is too silly. I think the right statement is “I am interested in studying how inaction problems and partial insurability generated by frictions and incomplete markets interact in a dynamic setting with heterogenous agents.”

despite all the cold water alt-protein has gotten still its peak, it is still impressive how products like Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat got ANY shelf placement in the first place

I thought about sharing some findings, but they are hard to anonymize. Two results I feel I can share: 1) Very technically competent papers that just extend known results, even if written by top people, do not age well. 2) Papers that deal with "topical discussions" that seem quite relevant on X at the time do not age well.

In case you missed it: @coeff_giving and @SloanFoundation launched a pop up journal and funding opportunity on studying the social returns to R&D. Here are the deets for funding: Grants of approximately $250,000 are available for studies that will provide key empirical insight into the social and economic returns to R&D investment. Larger requests may be considered for uniquely ambitious projects. Deadline: April 30, 2026 That's in a month, so better get your application ready! More info here: popupjournal.com/griliches

@LinchZhang I'd be interested in it existing since I'd want something to point people to as a central "not everything is selection" resource Also I'd skim it at some point

Would ppl be interested in a blog post called "not everything is selection" where I go through a list of things many people think is pure selection (US state differences in health outcomes, education broadly, cross-country differences overall, institutional culture, GDP growth, etc) and make the case they’re mostly or substantially treatment? I’m not that interested in the specific examples, and it’s possible that the overall thesis is obvious enough when stated that way (I’d guess very few to literally believe everything is selection).

brb writing seminal IO paper

How Steep is the Phillips Curve? How Curvy is the Phillips Curve? How Phillipy is the Phillps Curve? How Cheeky is the Phillips Curve?

Me trying to find plausibility exogenous variations in these policy documents

@MarthaF_F @krisgulati True, but maybe a single back-row could work? Depends on room size and needs norms on typing quietly... but I feel some version of this is workable

@geoffrey_yip @krisgulati I don't think this works well in seminar settings bc by custom, front rows are for faculty and back rows are for grad students. e.g., in classes, I always sit in the front row because I get distracted by laptops, but it'd be pretty weird for me to sit in the front in seminars

In general I hate the rule that laptops/phones are banned for graduate students from seminars for several reasons: 1. If the speaker is not relevant/presenting well — let the market decide where attention is allocated 2. Sometimes I can only engage with parts of a presentation

@MarthaF_F @krisgulati agree on negative externalities, but couldn't we just enforce a tech in back rows only policy?

@krisgulati disagree. - there are negative externalities on phone/laptop use on others - it's not always the topic that makes a seminar relevant. eg sometimes it's seeing which types of comments are made by whom

From a climate change pov, is it better to eat locally produced beef or imported fruit and vegetables? The difference is huge: since transport only accounts for 5% of carbon emissions from food, what you eat completely dominates where it comes from. update.news/p/trump-proves…

@quant_____ @FangYi11101 @jack_whitcomb_ If you can get a predoc w/o a masters, you should. I bounced off RA roles earlier as a 20-something wanting to try different career path but not realizing the high bar and then circled back to it later after realizing policy jobs also required prestige and credentials

@geoffrey_yip @FangYi11101 @jack_whitcomb_ Yes. I basically skipped out on these programs to try for predocs. I may regret that

One time I was at a dinner with the dean of my school and he told me how he’s working to grow the university’s (online!) masters programs, because they bring in so much revenue. I legitimately asked him “yea but these programs have basically no ROI for students right?”

@quant_____ @FangYi11101 @jack_whitcomb_ gotta run now but short bio is: Binghamton 2011-2015, software engineer 2017-2021, econ masters for policy 2021-2022, got bit by research bug, imf policy role 2022-2023, world bank predoc 2023-2025, phd now

@geoffrey_yip @FangYi11101 @jack_whitcomb_ what's your undergrad if you don't mind me asking?

@quant_____ @FangYi11101 @jack_whitcomb_ this is making me think I should write a "geoff's hot takes about grad school admissions thread" soon

@quant_____ @FangYi11101 @jack_whitcomb_ Yup at World Bank. Great role, incredible people, loved the policy applications but... also not what most people think of as a "top" predoc