As Robin Williams would announce, good morning Vietnam! It’s Friday, November 14th, and I needed to ship out a few bulletins. We’ve at Mixtape Periods two new workshops (one which begins tomorrow, one other in a month), plus I needed to share private issues. However I’ll preserve it quick.
Causal Inference 2 — Distinction-in-Variations Workshop
Distinction-in-differences is without doubt one of the hottest econometric approaches to causal inference within the social sciences. It has been for some time, and has been more and more over the past 5 years and now accounts for about 25% of all papers printed in prime economics journals (the drop in 2025 being that 2025 isn’t over and this was scraped earlier within the 12 months by Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham who made this superior software).
Beginning Saturday November 15, I will likely be educating a 4 day, unfold over two consecutive weekends, workshop on difference-in-differences. That is going to be over zoom, beginning at 9am CST (Chicago time) / 10am EST (Boston time), and it’ll cowl kind of the 2 new chapters of my new e book, Causal Inference: the Remix with Yale, set to come back out subsequent summer time (or this summer time relying on whether or not you speak in regards to the upcoming dates utilizing the “subsequent” or “this”) 2026. Let me present you the desk of contents from the e book.
That’s mainly the workshop! I’ll be protecting issues starting from easy (no covariates, non-staggered) to complicated (covariates, triple diff, sampling violations, staggered) conditions with panel information. I’ll even be sharing some issues that I feel are getting missed within the shuffle with the elevated deal with “new estimators” like designing initiatives, covariate steadiness, and the interpretation of coefficients when you find yourself aggregating over handled cohort-time durations and kind of detailed dialogue of what’s going on inside the strategies that use the 2×2 because the constructing block of all aggregations (e.g., Callaway and Sant’Anna, Solar and Abraham, de Chaisemartin and D’Haultfoeuille, and many others.). A lot of this will likely be not simply primarily based on my e book, but in addition the forthcoming Journal of Financial Literature article by Baker, Callaway, myself, Goodman-Bacon and Sant’anna. You could find the ungated model right here.
So, in case you are inquisitive about such a factor, come test it out! I feel this can be a workshop value taking irrespective of the place you’re, who you’re, and what your job title is given the recognition of difference-in-differences extra usually.
So if you will be writing a paper utilizing difference-in-differences, I might encourage you to contemplate coming to the workshop. And as at all times, there are pricing tiers as at Mixtape Periods we use value discrimination to attempt to get folks into the workshops primarily based on means to pay.
Hidden Curriculum
I’ll be sharing extra about this within the weeks to come back, however Mark Anderson (Montana State) and Dan Rees (UC3M in Madrid) are again with their very fashionable workshop referred to as “the Hidden Curriculum”, which is a sort of “every part you ever needed to find out about being an early profession educational however have been afraid to ask”.
Mark and Dan have been educating this workshop on Mixtape Periods for a number of years now and every year it’s been extra widespread than the final. A lot in order that they’ve been in demand to show it on the highway. Mark will likely be educating it once more the Westerns for the second time, and Dan goes to be educating it at Zurich within the spring of 2026, to not point out that each of them will likely be educating it at CodeChella Madrid 2026 (third annual!).
I’m informed that this time they are going to be introducing new dialogue round utilizing generative AI to put in writing, and from what I perceive, there’s going to be variations of opinion between the 2 of them as to the usefulness of it as a software. I’ve a hunch who’s who, however I’ve been mistaken earlier than, so I gained’t be betting on this one. However come test it out!
Boston and My New Paper
On a special observe, I’m going to be presenting a brand new paper at Brandeis College (thanks Dan and Tymon!) subsequent week. That is primarily based on analysis that my former pupil, Jared Black, did for his dissertation in Baylor’s well being companies analysis PhD program (for which I would be the PhD coordinator after my depart of absence concludes within the spring of 2026). This paper is in regards to the decriminalization of “psychedelic crops” (e.g., fungi, cacti, bark) in California municipalities beginning in 2019. This has been a ardour venture of mine for years, and I’m excited that this work is lastly shifting into manuscript type.
As soon as I get the draft rewritten, I’ll put up it on-line and begin sharing the outcomes. It’s not fairly prepared for prime time, as I’m doing a serious rewrite, however I feel we’re kind of the primary to estimate the causal impact of any psychedelic reforms, not to mention on ED visits for psychosis. I feel it’s an important paper for these within the subject, and I feel can make clear the challenges of shifting ahead with a purely medical mannequin the place psychedelic therapies are distributed via the medical networks versus the sort of municipality decriminalization that we’ve got been seen quietly unfold since 2019. However right here is the headline end result.
Baylor Graduate Packages
As I mentioned, I would be the PhD coordinator for Baylor’s PhD program in well being companies analysis. The web site is being up to date, and I’ll share extra about it within the months to come back, however in case you are inquisitive about well being companies analysis, come test it out and take into account making use of! Baylor has nice college, current firm excluded. It’s a small program, and also you subsequently get quite a lot of consideration from college who I take into account to be very good, onerous working, productive, impactful students of their respective fields. So come test us out.
It’s related to our masters in economics, additionally, which is a terminal masters program so if you happen to’re inquisitive about that, additionally take into account making use of for that one!
Boston Updates
Final thing. I heard via the grapevine that we acquired our first “dusting” with snow earlier this week. I didn’t personally witness any snow, so I’ve determined that is #fakenews. However, we’re shut.
Ever since I learn Jane Jacobs’ The Loss of life and Lifetime of Nice American Cities, I’ve so badly needed to dwell in a walkable metropolis with its blended use of business and residential, quick metropolis blocks, and the fixed interplay with folks. Properly, I dwell in Again Bay, which is kind of a neighborhood in Boston, which is a respectable metropolis. And I simply have probably not in my whole life lived in a legit metropolis by the definition of my thoughts of what constitutes one. Sure, I lived in Memphis, but it surely was the suburbs of Memphis. And sure I lived in New Orleans, however nonetheless, this isn’t the identical. That is romantic in a manner the others by no means have been.
I can’t even comprehend how lovely it’s up right here generally. I really like New England. I really like the chilly climate. I really like the folks. I really like the meals. I really like my house. I really like the Charles River. I really like Harvard College. I really like my colleagues within the Authorities faculty. I really like my college students. I really like the bagels at Pavement. I really like my sofa. I really like my mattress. So, I feel I’m going to remain an additional 12 months up right here and commute to Waco for a short time. See the way it feels. I really like Waco, and I am keen on Texas with all my coronary heart. However I introduced my cowboy boots with me, and I’ll be in Texas recurrently, so we’ll see how this works out. It’ll an honest quantity of commuting, little question, however I am going to simply want to remain up right here a short time longer.
The opposite factor I needed to share is that I’m an Amazon Advisor. I used to be approached by Amazon to grow to be an Amazon Scholar again in April, however we labored out as a substitute that I grow to be a Advisor as a substitute. It is a higher total match for me and the “public dealing with” work I do with Mixtape Periods, this substack, and the podcast. Guido Imbens and Alberto Abadie, two of my favourite econometricians alive or useless, are each consultants, so I’m in good firm.
So, all in all, I’m very blissful. I’ve met some new folks, and met up with outdated associates, together with my outdated roommate and groomsman. And attending to spend time with him, in addition to a few of these new folks, has been really fantastic. I proceed to hold my dwelling on my again.
And thanks to everybody who wrote and gave me their condolences after my dad died. He was a very good man, and he was a good higher dad, and I consider him typically since he handed away. The upside to Parkinsons was that dad was dying for a very long time. I assume that sounds terrible now that I say it out loud, however in partial equilibrium, it meant that I had time to arrange myself for his loss of life. All of us die. Dad just isn’t distinctive. I’ll die someday too — possibly even in the present day. And to have the time to arrange for his funeral, to say every part I wanted to say to him earlier than he died, to interact within the sort of narrative-based private and non-private career of affection for him on the funeral — I wanted it. And I acquired to do it. In order that is without doubt one of the items that Parkinsons gave me. I can’t think about what it should really feel wish to have a father or mother or cherished one instantly taken from me. It could be traumatizing, and I’ve brushed up in opposition to it earlier than, and it was traumatizing. However this wasn’t. This was a protracted goodbye. And I proceed to think about dad, residing amongst his folks.
Considered one of my excellent associates who I really like so dearly is Joseph Value. We’ve recognized one another now for nearly 20 years. And he has been accumulating and merging information to create a protracted household tree of the human race for in all probability half that point. He’s the one best and blissful folks within the career. I’ve by no means met somebody like him, and possibly by no means will. And he wrote and despatched me a snippet of my dad’s household tree. It’s a bit blurry, however you’ll be able to see it right here.
You already know what’s wild? My dad’s mom grandmother was named Edith Cunningham. Guess what my daughter’s identify is? Edith Ren Cunningham. Guess who didn’t nam their daughter after that daughter’s great-great grandmother (did I do sufficient greats?)? We didn’t.
You may see within the household tree on the left that my household goes again to the Cunningham clan in Scotland. I discovered previous couple of years from visiting Scotland in the summertime (and once more will likely be there in the summertime of 2026 in Glasgow to do a weeklong workshop) is that the Cunningham clan supported Robert the Bruce. I solely know who Robert the Bruce is from Braveheart, however put that apart — I take into account us on the proper facet as a result of that meant we have been on William Wallace’s facet. Properly if you happen to transfer as much as the north-west of pop’s household tree you will discover a number of folks named William Wallace weirdly sufficient.
So thanks Joe. I really like you. I respect all you do to assist me and encourage me. I despatched this household tree to my household, and we cherished it.
And that’s all! I’ve to now soar up and prepare, however I simply needed to drop a line and say all this. Come join the workshops!
