Applied Probabilistic Programming and Bayesian Machine Learning
Max Shen, PhD Student, Alvin Shi, PhD Student, Carles Boix, PhD Student
| Jan/10 | Tue | 05:00PM-06:30PM | 4-237 |
| Jan/12 | Thu | 05:00PM-06:30PM | 4-237 |
| Jan/17 | Tue | 05:00PM-06:30PM | 4-237 |
| Jan/19 | Thu | 05:00PM-06:30PM | 4-237 |
| Jan/24 | Tue | 05:00PM-06:30PM | 4-237 |
| Jan/26 | Thu | 05:00PM-06:30PM | 4-237 |
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/08
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Recent innovations in computational methods for Bayesian inference, captured in probabilistic programming languages such as Stan and Edward, have made the power of fully Bayesian inference accessible beyond expert statisticians. These methods particularly shine in machine learning settings with small-to-medium size datasets and complex prior/domain knowledge.
This class aims to provide a hands-on introduction to applying probabilistic programming to real-world problems. The ideas behind probabilistic programming will be covered, including automatic differentiation, variational inference, Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), and other inference methods. The engineering of models will also be emphasized through exercises on debugging, model specification, reparameterization, addressing identifiability issues, and model efficiency.
Coding exercises and sample datasets will be provided. Students are also encouraged to bring in their own datasets. All course details are subject to change.
*Prior experience with Python or R recommended, as well as some experience with statistics. The class is geared towards interested undergraduates and graduate students.
*In addition, the first annual Stan Convention is occurring on January 21st at Columbia University ($50 student registration) and some of us will be attending.
*Please register here: https://goo.gl/forms/6Ovz4ferwITj7ak13
*Course Material here: https://github.com/maxwshen/iap-appbml
Contact: Max Shen, MAXWSHEN@MIT.EDU
Business data: Finding & mapping company information
Jennie Murack, Nick Albaugh
| Jan/20 | Fri | 11:00AM-12:00PM | 14N-132 |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Did you ever wonder where grocery stores are located in a city? Or perhaps biotech firms? We will learn how to query several business directories and then take that information one step further by creating customized maps and finding detailed information for specific companies.
Bring your laptop or use a computer in the lab.
Sponsor(s): Libraries, Geographic Information Systems Lab
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU
Child Protection Planning: 10 Things Every Parent Should Know
Mark Porter '05, Certified Financial Planner
| Jan/26 | Thu | 12:00PM-01:00PM | 32-144 |
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Becoming a parent is a joyous and life altering event. It can also have a serious impact on your finances. How can you best protect your children? How can you best plan for their future? Come learn the essentials from Mark Porter '05, certified financial planner, and Brian Mahoney, Esq. on topics such as:
• Wills
• Emergency and Permanent Guardianship Provisions
• Trusts
• Education Savings Options
• Life Insurance
• Disability Insurance
The seminar itself will last 60 minutes and then Brian and Mark will be available for questions.
Sponsor(s): Alumni Association
Contact: Elena Byrne, W98-206C, 617 252-1143, EBYRNE@MIT.EDU
Child Protection Planning: 10 Things Every Young Parent Should Know
Brian Mahoney, Esq., Mark Porter '05, Certified Financial Planner
| Jan/10 | Tue | 04:00PM-05:00PM | 32-144 |
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Becoming a parent is a joyous and life altering event. It can also have a serious impact on your finances. How can you best protect your children? How can you best plan for their future? Come learn the essentials from Mark Porter '05, certified financial planner, and Brian Mahoney, Esq. on topics such as:
• Wills
• Emergency and Permanent Guardianship Provisions
• Trusts
• Education Savings Options
• Life Insurance
• Disability Insurance
The seminar itself will last 60 minutes and then Brian and Mark will be available for questions.
Register today!
Sponsor(s): Alumni Association
Contact: Elena Byrne, W98, 617-252-1143, ebyrne@mit.edu
Climate Science: Mankind's First Good Forecast
Spencer Glendon, Wellington Management Company LLP
| Jan/30 | Mon | 01:00PM-02:30PM | E51-335 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Economists and investors try to make an extremely complex system tractable through theory, equations, and data analysis. This enormous enterprise yields valuable, often marginal insights but rarely produces good forecasts. For over 40 years climate scientists have also sought to understand a complex system using theory, equations, and data analysis. Their research has yielded startlingly clear results and mankind’s first good forecast. Spencer Glendon will compare climate research with social science, share what climate science teaches us about economic history and specialization, and discuss why economics and finance are so reluctant to embrace climate science.
Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Beata Shuster, E52-439A, 617 253-8883, BSHUSTER@MIT.EDU
Consequences of the Declining Marriage-Market Value of Men for Marriage, Fertility, and Children's Living Circumstances
David Autor, Ford Professor of Economics, Assoc. Department Head
| Jan/24 | Tue | 01:00PM-02:00PM | E52-432 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
The structure of marriage and child-rearing in U.S. households has undergone two marked shifts in the last three decades: a steep decline in the prevalence of marriage among young adults, and a sharp rise in the fraction of children born to unmarried mothers or living in single-headed households. One potential contributor to both phenomena is the declining labor market opportunities faced by non-college males, which make them less valuable as marital partners. But is this hypothesis relevant, or rather a bunch of bad journalism dressed up in economic terminology? This IAP talk will offer both theory and evidence on the role that the falling marriage-market value of young men may have played in the rising rate of out-of-wedlock childbearing and single-headed childrearing in the United States.
Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Beata Shuster, E52-439A, 617 253-8883, BSHUSTER@MIT.EDU
Customer Financing and Other Creative Ways to Fund Your New Venture
Sanjay Manandhar '89, SM '91, Founder & CEO Aerva, Inc
| Jan/18 | Wed | 06:00PM-07:00PM | 32-144 |
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
The most common method of financing is one of angel and institutional money from VC and PE firms. However, not all businesses are a fit for these types of funding sources. Roughly 1% of the companies attract any angel/VC—so what do other ventures do? How did ventures get off the ground before the 1950s when the VC industry started taking hold?
Customer-funding is an attractive, non-dilutive method of funding. There is, of course, the chicken-and-egg problem of not having products to sell to customers, but needing funding to create the products. There are many ways to handle this—I will share one method Aerva used to receive customer funding early on.
Typically first customers are much larger than your new venture—and it may seem inconceivable why a larger entity might want to work with a smaller entity or a startup. In fact, startups have a lot more leverage than their founders may realize. Therefore, one can negotiate a win-win scenario, which can help your financing situation.
Along the way, there are many traditional, non-VC funding sources one can tap into, in particular once positive revenue trends can be demonstrated. After break-even and positive cashflow, even more funding sources become available, from bank loans, to institutional capital, which may even start chasing you, rather than the other way around.
Sponsor(s): Alumni Association
Contact: Elena Byrne, W98-206C, 617 252-1143, EBYRNE@MIT.EDU
Data Visualization Done Differently
Jonathan Schwabish, Senior Research Associate at Urban Institute
| Jan/26 | Thu | 01:00PM-02:30PM | E51-325 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
The data visualization field combines data analysis, graphic design, journalism, and statistics and aims to help analysts in a variety of fields provide their audience with greater insights into their research or products. In this presentation, I lay the groundwork for how to use data visualization to more effectively communicate. This presentation will demonstrate different types of visualizations and their uses, as well as how to avoid creating graphics that result in ineffective and inaccurate perceptions of data. These guidelines will prepare you to create clearer, more accurate, and more visually appealing graphics.
Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Beata Shuster, E52-439A, 617 253-8883, BSHUSTER@MIT.EDU
Disaggregating the Matching Function
Peter Diamond, Institute Professor and Professor of Economics, Emeritus
| Feb/01 | Wed | 10:30AM-12:00PM | E51-151 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
The focus of this paper is on gross hires relative to the tightness of the labor market, the aggregate matching function. The paper considers various decompositions of aggregate hires to see how the hiring process differs across different groups of workers and different groups of firms, Decompositions include worker employment status in the previous month, along with age, gender and education. Another decomposition separates hiring between part-time and full-time jobs, which show different patterns in the current recovery. Shift-share analyses are done based on industry, firm size and occupation to show how much of the size of the residual of the aggregate hiring function can be explained by the composition of vacancies across these dimensions. The paper also includes some issues in the modeling of the labor market. The paper briefly notes that the hiring process appears to shift as a recovery starts, coinciding with shifts in the Beveridge curve.
Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Beata Shuster, E52-439A, 617 253-8883, BSHUSTER@MIT.EDU
Discussion and Film: "The Strange Case of the Water That Went up the Great-Grandfather's Arse and Other Stories of Democracy" (by Abhijit Banerjee)
Abhijit Banerjee, Ford International Professor of Economics
| Feb/02 | Thu | 01:00PM-02:30PM | E52-432 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Democracy is humanity’s bravest experiment. The idea that everyone–women and men, poor and rich, illiterate and educated–should be in charge of shaping the state and society they live in, is at once totally obvious and deeply radical. And yet, the lived experience of democracy is almost always disappointing. Corruption is often the rule and change is slow and difficult.
This film is about living this tension, through the eyes and voices of every day participants in the world’s largest democracy, India. Using unique footage that we shot in dozens of locations all over the country over eight years, with interviews with everyone from theorists to thugs (who are sometimes the same people), we document how profoundly the so-called bit-players in the democratic narrative—the often semi-literate voters, the local activists and the small-time leaders–have absorbed the democratic ethos. For all their cynicism and fear, it is for the poor, the marginalized and the powerless that the idea of democracy matters the most, what gives them the greatest hope for the future.
Combining animation, folk music and street plays with casual conversations at street corners, expert analyses and stump speeches, this is a documentary about a nation, a people and one extraordinary idea.
A presentation of clips from The strange case of the water that went up the great-grandfather’s arse and other stories of democracy followed by a discussion on populism and democracy.
Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Beata Shuster, E52-439A, 617 253-8883, BSHUSTER@MIT.EDU
Dynamics of Real Estate Development in China: Theory and Education
Xin Zhang, PhD candidate
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Limited to 50 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
The lecture focuses on real estate market discussion from three perspectives: “Uncertainty” (Quantifying Future Value Uncertainty in Development Projects), “Flexibility” (Flexibility in Design in Large Scale Real Estate Projects), and “Methodology” (System Dynamics Analysis on Chinese Urban Housing Market). Each section will take 1.5 Hours. Lunch will be provided at noon time and coffee will be provided in the afternoon.
Sponsor(s): Urban Studies and Planning, Center for Real Estate Development, MIT China Program
Contact: Xin Zhang, (202) 281-4718, xinzhang@mit.edu
| Jan/17 | Tue | 10:30AM-12:00PM | 9-354 |
Introduce the concept of real estate system, identify the sources of asset value uncertainty and its variation over time, discuss empirically the evidence about such uncertainty, and modeling in Excel.
Prof David Geltner
| Jan/17 | Tue | 01:00PM-02:30PM | 9-354 |
Introduce the typology of large scale real estate development flexibility options with case studies, including delay option, phasing option, expansion option, etc.
Prof Richard de Neufville, Xin Zhang - PhD candidate
| Jan/17 | Tue | 03:00PM-04:30PM | 9-354 |
This session analyzes the potential housing bubble in Chinese urban housing market through the lens of a System Dynamics model. The goal is to demonstrate in casuality structure how non-economic features under certain conditions can become bubble self-feeding mechanisms and lead to escalating price behavior.
Xin Zhang - PhD candidate
Economics and Politics of Brexit
John Van Reenen, Professor of Applied Economics
| Jan/20 | Fri | 01:00PM-02:00PM | E51-149 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
What are likely to be the economic consequences of Britain’s historic vote to leave the European Union (“Brexit”) on the UK and the rest of the world. Van Reenen will discuss the role of trade, investment, immigration and other changes. He will also look at the reasons that Britain voted to leave and what it means for the future of Western democracies.
Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Beata Shuster, E52-439A, 617 253-8883, BSHUSTER@MIT.EDU
Energy Policy in the context of Climate Change: the case of Mexico
Dr. Lourdes Melgar, CIS Wilhelm Fellow, former Deputy Secretary of Energy of Mexico
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
How does a country reconcile the search for energy security with a commitment to mitigate climate change? What dilemmas do policymakers face in an oil producing country committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions? Can the energy sector be decarbonized without hurting the economy? How does a government rally support for deployment of energy projects in indigenous communities? How do you ensure that oil revenues are well invested? Why is having a clean energy secure Mexico good for No. America?
In 2013, Mexico approved all-encompassing energy reform at the Constitutional level, simultaneously modernizing the hydrocarbons and electricity sectors following international best practices. Having earlier approved a Climate Change Law (2012), Mexico’s Energy Reform includes elements to promote clean energies and reduce GHG emissions.
Dr. Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, states that “[t]his is not a reform, it's a revolution on an unprecedented scale.” In addition to its depth, Mexico’s energy reform is being implemented in record time. The sense of urgency comes from the need to fuel the country, comply with climate change commitments & boost the competitiveness of the economy.
This seminar, led by a major player in the design and implementation of this historic energy reform, aims at understanding the challenges and dilemmas policymakers face in designing a modern energy sector. Mexico’s Energy Reform will serve as reference for the discussion.
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies, MIT Mexico Program
Contact: Laurie Scheffler, LAURIES@MIT.EDU
| Jan/09 | Mon | 10:30AM-12:00PM | E40-496, Pye Conf Rm |
Mexico's Energy Reform: Overview
Dr. Lourdes Melgar, CIS Wilhelm Fellow - former Deputy Secretary of Energy of Mexico
| Jan/11 | Wed | 10:30AM-12:00PM | E40-496, Pye Conf Rm |
Mexico's Upstream Sector: Resources, contracts and bids.
Dr. Lourdes Melgar, CIS Wilhelm Fellow - former Deputy Secretary of Energy of Mexico
| Jan/18 | Wed | 10:30AM-12:00PM | E40-496, Pye Conf Rm |
The Challenges of Creating Energy Markets
Dr. Lourdes Melgar, CIS Wilhelm Fellow - former Deputy Secretary of Energy of Mexico
| Jan/20 | Fri | 10:30AM-12:00PM | E40-496, Pye Conf Rm |
The transition to a low-carbon electricity sector
Dr. Lourdes Melgar, CIS Wilhelm Fellow - former Deputy Secretary of Energy of Mexico
| Jan/23 | Mon | 10:30AM-12:00PM | E40-496, Pye Conf Rm |
The Importance of Sustainability (financial, social and environmental)
Dr. Lourdes Melgar, CIS Wilhelm Fellow - former Deputy Secretary of Energy of Mexico
Equilibrium Shifts, Model Uncertainty and Global Games
Muhamet Yildiz, Professor of Economics
| Jan/11 | Wed | 02:30PM-04:00PM | E52-432 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
I will present some recent research on global games with an application to causes of equilibrium shifts in dynamic coordination games. I will introduce rank beliefs (i.e. conditional expectation of players' own percentiles) and describe the central role they play in the analyses of global games. Using rank beliefs one can extend the risk-dominant selection results in global games literature to arbitrary type spaces (including multi-dimensional type spaces that are common in practice). With model uncertainty, under canonical global games setup, rank beliefs take a specific shape. In that case, small shocks to the fundamentals shift the equilibrium to a latent solution. Consequently, one can identify the kind of shocks that are effective--in shifting to a "bad equilibrium" as in crises or shifting to a "good equilibrium" as in recovery.
Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Beata Shuster, E52-439A, 617 253-8883, BSHUSTER@MIT.EDU
Financial Planning 101
Mark Porter '05, Certified Financial Planner
| Jan/26 | Thu | 06:00PM-07:00PM | 32-141 |
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
MIT has done a great job teaching students how to earn money. Unfortunately, no one teaches students what to do with it when they get it!
This hour-long seminar will offer the basics of a financial-planning approach. It will cover definitions and best practices regarding:
• Cash reserves
• Liability management
• Tax planning
• Insurance planning
• Savings vehicles
• Investments
The class will be most useful for those already working or graduating in 2017, but all are welcome.
Taught by Mark Porter ’05, certified financial planner.
Sponsor(s): Alumni Association
Contact: Elena Byrne, W98-206C, 617 252-1143, EBYRNE@MIT.EDU
Financial Planning 101
Mark Porter '05
| Jan/10 | Tue | 12:00PM-01:00PM | 1-190 |
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
MIT has done a great job teaching students how to earn money. Unfortunately, no one teaches students what to do with it when they get it!
This hour-long seminar will offer the basics of a financial-planning approach. It will cover definitions and best practices regarding:
• Cash reserves
• Liability management
• Tax planning
• Insurance planning
• Savings vehicles
• Investments
The class will be most useful for those already working or graduating in 2017, but all are welcome.
Taught by Mark Porter, CFP® Class of 2005.
Sponsor(s): Alumni Association
Contact: Elena Byrne, W98, 617-252-1143, ebyrne@mit.edu
Health Care Reform: Where to Now?
Jonathan Gruber, Ford Professor of Economics
| Jan/25 | Wed | 10:30AM-12:00PM | E52-432 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Professor Gruber will discuss the issues facing health care reform in the new Trump Administration.
Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Beata Shuster, E52-439A, 617 253-8883, BSHUSTER@MIT.EDU
Homebuying 101
Meghan Melvin, Marketing Specialist
| Jan/09 | Mon | 12:00PM-01:30PM | 32-124 Stata Center |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/04
Limited to 50 participants
Whether it's your first time or you're in the market again, learn what's involved in buying a house at this free, informative session as part of MIT's Independent Activities Period (IAP).
Come meet the experts from MIT Federal Credit Union, Vita Realty Group, and Members Mortgage Company to talk about:
- Effective property search tips
- Current area market housing trends
- Financing options
- Getting approved for a mortgage
- And much more
Monday, January 9th | 12:00pm-1:30pm | Stata Center, Room 124
Helping make home ownership yours is a higher degree of banking.
To register, click here.
Sponsor(s): MIT Federal Credit Union
Contact: Meghan Melvin, NE48, 617 715-4703, MBROWNCU@MIT.EDU
Housing Recovery - what's different this time
William Wheaton, Professor of Economics and Urban Studies
| Jan/31 | Tue | 01:00PM-02:30PM | E51-376 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
This recovery in the housing market has been unusually slow, with low construction and only a few markets recovering to date back to 2007 price levels. A number of alternative explanations will be analyzed with conventional forecasting tools critiqued. Future scenarios will be examined.
Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Beata Shuster, E52-439A, 617 253-8883, BSHUSTER@MIT.EDU
IAP 2017: Making the leap from student to thesis writer: How to write a dissertation while maintaining your sanity
Amy Finkelstein, John & Jennie S. MacDonald Professor of Economics, Esther Duflo, Abdul Latif Jameel Prof. of Poverty Alleviation & Dev. Econ, Drew Fudenberg, Paul A. Samuelson Professor of Economics, Alp Simsek, Rudi Dornbusch Career Development Associate Prof. of Econ., Isaiah Andrews, Silverman (1968) Family Career Development Assistant Prof.
| Jan/19 | Thu | 01:00PM-02:30PM | E51-151 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
The transition from course-taking to dissertation-writing is one of the most difficult parts of graduate school. A faculty panel will describe strategies for navigating this transition. They will discuss where to turn for help and guidance, pitfalls to avoid, and distill lessons from their own experiences as students and as advisers.
Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Beata Shuster, E52-439A, 617 253-8883, BSHUSTER@MIT.EDU
Introduction to Credit Analysis and Equity Valuation
Jonathan Piskorowski SM '07, Andrew Henwood SM '07
| Feb/02 | Thu | 01:00PM-03:00PM | E62-262 |
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Credit Analysis
The corporate bond markets are a key financing markets for a variety of companies. The first part of this seminar will introduce students to various corporate credit markets and to cover key concepts in credit analysis including the role the ratings agencies and typical financial ratios employed in order to determine the credit risk of a company. The primary focus will be the Investment Grade (IG) bond market. Several examples on how bonds are priced will be provided, and why an IG rating is desirable for a company today will be explained. If time permits, a further overview of other key bond markets (Government, Structured) will be covered.
Equity Valuation
You may be familiar with DCF analysis, but other approaches, such as multiple analysis, net asset value and sum-of-the parts valuation, are important techniques in providing a broader measure of equity valuation. An effort will be made to include several real world examples of how investment professionals value equities in the Energy and Financial sectors.
Instructors: Andrew Henwood SM '07 and Jonathan Piskorowski SM '07
1:00 – 2:00 pm. Introduction to Corp. Credit Analysis
2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Introduction to Equity valuation
Sponsor(s): Alumni Association
Contact: Elena Byrne, W98-206C, 617 252-1143, EBYRNE@MIT.EDU
Minimizing Envy in School Choice: The Design of New Orleans OneApp
Parag Pathak, Jane Berkowitz Carlton and Dennis William Carlton Professor
| Jan/27 | Fri | 01:00PM-02:00PM | E52-432 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
In 2011, New Orleans' Recovery School District became the first in the nation to adopt a unified enrollment system for admissions to traditional public and charter schools. This talk will describe the assignment mechanism underlying New Orleans system, and show new formal results about its envy-minimizing properties. We also discuss why the city adopted a new mechanism after one year, and lessons for economic design.
Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Beata Shuster, E52-439A, 617 253-8883, BSHUSTER@MIT.EDU
New financing models for funding fusion energy
Andrew Lo, Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor
| Jan/23 | Mon | 02:00PM-03:00PM | NW17-218 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
The idea of fusion energy is nearly half a century old, yet we still seem far away from "ignition." One of the biggest hurdles is lack of funding. However, the recent announcement by Softbank of a $100 billion technology fund suggests that there *is* money available if we can create a financially attractive investment vehicle to commercialize fusion technology. In this talk, Prof. Lo will describe some of the necessary financial ingredients for launching such a fund.
Sponsor(s): Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Contact: Paul Rivenberg, NW16-284, 617 253-8101, RIVENBERG@PSFC.MIT.EDU
News, Opinion, and the Importance of the Medium
Sara F. Ellison, Senior Lecturer in Economics
| Jan/12 | Thu | 02:00PM-03:30PM | E52-432 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
We will discuss how economic characteristics of media markets can drive content. The talk will bring in recent economic research and examples from historic and current media markets.
Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Beata Shuster, E52-439A, 617 253-8883, BSHUSTER@MIT.EDU
Software Tools for Business Analytics
Scott Alessandro
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Because of the "big data revolution," there is an ever-increasing need for techniques for analyzing data, developing mathematical models, and using these models to make informed decisions. To get started in this process, one needs a working knowledge of business analytic software tools.
These four non-credit workshops focus on software tools used in Course 15 classes. The goal of these workshops is to provide students with a baseline knowledge of business analytics software tools that they can use in MIT courses, UROPs involving data analysis, and summer internships or jobs after graduation.
Sign up is not required, but there is some pre-work that needs to be done (setting up your computer to use R and access Github). See link below for instructions.
To register: http://tinyurl.com/hn2uf3d
Installation instructions and more information: http://tinyurl.com/zgznpw3
Questions?: Scott Alessandro, salessan@mit.edu
Session 1 (Terminal and Github) – Overview on working with the terminal, Github, and an introduction to the R programming language.
Session 2 (Basic Wrangling and Visualization – Introduce basic techniques in data wrangling and visualization in R.
Session 3 (Excel) – Introduce and practice with concrete real life examples on how to use the most important functions and shortcuts in Excel.
Session 4 (JuMP/Julia) – Using Julia and the JuMP package, we will model and solve optimization problems that arise in a variety of contexts throughout analytics and operations.
Sponsor(s): Sloan School of Management
Contact: Scott Alessandro, E52-150, 617 253-6296, SALESSAN@MIT.EDU
| Jan/23 | Mon | 01:00PM-04:00PM | E62-250, Bring your laptop. Complete pre-work |
| Jan/24 | Tue | 01:00PM-04:00PM | E62-250, Bring your laptop |
| Jan/26 | Thu | 01:00PM-04:00PM | E62-250, Bring your laptop |
| Jan/27 | Fri | 01:00PM-04:00PM | E51-085, Bring your laptop |
Session 1 (Terminal and Github) - Monday, January 23, 1-4 pm, E62-250. Instructor: Brad Sturt
Session 2 (Basic Wrangling and Visualization) - Tuesday, January 24, 1-4 pm, E62-250. Instructor: Steven Morse
Session 3 (Excel) - Thursday, January 26, 1-4 pm, E62-250. Instructor: Charles Thraves
Session 4 (JuMP/Julia) - Friday, January 27, 1-4 pm, E51-085. Instructor: Joey Hutchette
Tax Issues for Employees and Entrepreneurs
Joseph Weber, Professor of Accounting
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
This course intends to expose students to a broad range of tax issues students will encounter shortly after graduation as an entrepreneur or an employee. For a new employee, taxes are an important consideration in decisions regarding deductions and retirement savings (through employee and employer contributions such as 401k's IRAs, etc). Taxes also feature prominently in decisions with respect to stock option-based compensation. Also, tax related issues for U.S. taxpayers working overseas will be addressed. For the entrepreneur, taxes also influence a new business venture's choice of entity: Corporation, LLC, Partnership, Sole Proprietorship. Instructor: Howard Mandelcorn is a partner at the Hutchings Barsamian Mandelcorn LLP law firm in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
Sponsor(s): Sloan School of Management
Contact: Joseph Weber, E62-664, (617) 253-4310, jpweber@mi.edu
| Jan/25 | Wed | 01:00PM-04:00PM | E51-145 |
| Jan/26 | Thu | 01:00PM-04:00PM | E51-145 |
Howard Mandelcorn - LL.M., Joseph Weber - Professor of Accounting
Technological Improvement, Regulatory Avoidance, and the Case of Ride-hailing Services
Sara F. Ellison, Senior Lecturer in Economics
| Jan/10 | Tue | 02:00PM-03:30PM | E52-432 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
We'll discuss the history of for-hire transportation and the economic and technological forces that have led to the remarkable success of ride-hailing services such as Uber.
Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Beata Shuster, E52-439A, 617 253-8883, BSHUSTER@MIT.EDU
The Economic State of the World
Olivier Blanchard, Robert M. Solow Professor, Emeritus
| Jan/23 | Mon | 01:00PM-02:30PM | E51-315 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
How the future looked before the US elections, and how the elections have changed it.
Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Beata Shuster, E52-439A, 617 253-8883, BSHUSTER@MIT.EDU
Tzedakah/Philanthropy 101 for Seniors
Marissa Freed, Assistant Director, Hillel, Marla Choslovsky, Development Director, Hillel
| Feb/02 | Thu | 12:00PM-02:00PM | W11-180 Small Dining, Lunch will be served |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/30
Limited to 15 participants
Fee: $5.00
for senior class gift (Suggested, not required)
One of the perks of becoming an adult is earning a paycheck. Hillel is leading a conversation about how adults make intentional philanthropic choices past dropping a quarter in a tzedakah box. All students are welcome to join this conversation about personal philanthropy and Jewish perspectives on the practice.
RSVP here by Monday January 30th
Sponsor(s): Hillel
Contact: Marissa Freed, W11-039, 617-253-2982, MFEINMAN@MIT.EDU
Understanding Jobs for Economics Professors in Business Schools
Robert Gibbons, Sloan Distinguished Professor of Management, Roberto Rigobon, Society of Sloan Fellows Professor of Management
| Jan/24 | Tue | 09:00AM-10:30AM | E52-432 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
We will discuss (1) differences across business schools, including how faculty are evaluated in terms of research versus teaching, as well as (2) differences within business schools, including how economists working on different topics might fit in different faculty groups.
Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Beata Shuster, E52-439A, 617 253-8883, BSHUSTER@MIT.EDU
Using science to test innovations in social policy: Evidence from Education & Labor, Finance & Governance
Alison Fahey, Senior Policy Manager, J-PAL
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: None
How do policymakers encourage government workers in Afghanistan to save money? What are effective ways to encourage parents in Kenya to send their daughters to school? How can a major anti-poverty program in Indonesia be designed to ensure low-income families receive benefits they are eligible for?
These are questions researchers in the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) network, including several professors in the Department of Economics, grapple with every day. Join J-PAL Policy staff for a conversation about how we use randomized controlled trials to test different approaches to reducing corruption, improving access to finance, generating livelihoods, and helping kids learn. We’ll talk about what types of programs and policies work, what types don’t, and why, and discuss how J-PAL’s staff around the world are using this evidence to influence real-world decisions.
The first session will focus on evidence in Labor (Livelihoods) and Education; the second session will focus on evidence in the Financial Inclusion and Governance sectors.
Contact: Alison Fahey, E53-324, 617 324-6363, AFAHEY@MIT.EDU
| Jan/31 | Tue | 02:00PM-03:30PM | E52-432 |
This session will focus on evidence in Education and Labor. The session will be led by J-PAL Policy staff from both sectors who are looking forward to sharing evidence from randomized controlled trials with the MIT community.
Led by Radhika Bhula, Senior Policy Associate, Education; Lisa Corsetto, Policy Associate, Labor; and Meagan Neal, Policy Associate, Education.
| Feb/01 | Wed | 02:00PM-03:30PM | E52-432 |
This session will focus on evidence in Financial Inclusion and Governance. The session will be led by J-PAL Policy staff from both sectors who are looking forward to sharing evidence from randomized controlled trials with the MIT community.
Led by: Sam Carter, Policy Associate, Finance; Eliza Keller, Senior Policy Associate, Governance; Justin Loiseau, Senior Policy Associate, Finance.
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