IAP 2018 Activities by Category - Economics and Finance

Mark Porter '05

	Jan/10	Wed	04:00PM-05:30PM	56-154
	Jan/31	Wed	12:00PM-01:30PM	32-144

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Repeating event, participants welcome at any session

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 here.

Sponsor(s): MIT Federal Credit Union, Alumni Association
Contact: Meghan Melvin, 700 Technology Square, 617-715-4703, mbrowncu@mit.edu

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

SCHEDULE 

12:50-1:00 Opening Remarks

1:00-2:30 Social Policy: Taxation, Health Care and Social Security | Peter Diamond, Amy Finkelstein, Jason Furman, Jon Gruber, James Poterba

2:40-3:00 Coffee Break

3:00-4:30 Financial (De) Regulation | Ricardo Caballero, Kristin Forbes, Deborah Lucas, Jeremy Stein, Chester Spatt

4:30-5:00 Coffee Break

5:00-6:30 Populism on the Rise: Causes and Consequences |   Daron Acemoglu, Michael Piore, John Van Reenen, Dani Rodrik, James Snyder

 

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Maren Young, 617 258-6549, MARENY@MIT.EDU

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Social Policy

Jan/24

Wed

01:00PM-02:30PM

Bldg 26, Room 10

Social Policy: Taxation, Health Care and Social Security 

Peter Diamond, Amy Finkelstein, Jason Furman, Jon Gruber, James Poterba

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Financial (De) Regulation

Jan/24

Wed

03:00PM-04:30PM

bldg 26 Room 100

Financial (De) Regulation

Ricardo Caballero, Chester Spatt, Kristin Forbes, Deborah Lucas, Jeremy Stein

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Populism on the Rise

Jan/24

Wed

05:00PM-06:30PM

bldg 26 Room 100

Populism on the Rise: Causes and Consequences 

Daron Acemoglu, Michael Piore, John Van Reenen, Dani Rodrik, James Snyder

Alberto Abadie, Dave Donaldson, Heidi Williams, Martin Beraja, Michael Dennis Whinston, Simon Jaeger

Jan/31

Wed

01:00PM-02:30PM

E51-372

Enrollment: Unlimited: 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: Maren Young, E52-405, 617 258-6549, MARENY@MIT.EDU

Mark Porter, '05, Certified Financial Planner

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

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 2018, but all are welcome.

Register here.

Sponsor(s): MIT Federal Credit Union, Alumni Association
Contact: Meghan Melvin, NE48, 617 715-4703, MBROWNCU@MIT.EDU

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Basics of Financial Planning

	Jan/24	Wed	06:30PM-08:00PM	32-124
	Jan/25	Thu	12:00PM-01:30PM	56-154

Mark Porter, '05 - Certified Financial Planner

Sophia Lin MBA '12

Jan/24

Wed

06:00PM-07:00PM

E62-250

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required

Have you read the news recently? All eyes are on Bitcoin. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value has skyrocketed from less than a cent to almost $20,000. For those who are interested in Bitcoin investing, this talk will offer a starting point to help you understand Bitcoin, blockchain, and the tools you need to invest in the bitcoin market.

Leading the discussion: Sophia Lin MBA '12

Register today! http://alumic.mit.edu/bitcoin_investing_101_2018

Sponsor(s): Alumni Association
Contact: Elena Byrne, W98-206C, 617 252-1143, EBYRNE@MIT.EDU

Jennie Murack, Nick Albaugh

Jan/30

Tue

10:30AM-12:00PM

14N-132

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Limited to 30 participants

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.

Register here: http://libcal.mit.edu/event/3757939

Sponsor(s): Libraries, Geographic Information Systems Lab
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU

Ziwen Jiang

Enrollment: Email application
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

The MIT China Development Initiative Club is hosting a forum on innovation and technology between students from top Chinese and U.S. universities. Specifically, we will focus on the role of technology in environmental development, governmental operations, and nonprofits in both China and the US. 

Contact: Ziwen Jiang, ziwenj@mit.edu

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iMUSE Conference - Day 0

Jan/21

Sun

09:00AM-07:00PM

MIT Campus / Dorms

List of activities:

-Delegates check-in, meet with student hosts

-Welcome socials & ice-breakers

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iMUSE Conference - Orientation

Jan/22

Mon

09:00AM-07:00PM

Media Lab / Boston

List of Activities:

-Delegates TED Talk

-MIT Campus Tour

-Visit to MIT Media Lab

-Boston Excursion / Scavenger Hunt

-Project Team Formation

-Welcome Dinner

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iMUSE Conference - Entrepreneurship

Jan/23

Tue

09:00AM-07:00PM

Boston

List of Activities:

-Visit to Google

-Visit to BrainCo Inc. (Startup at Harvard Innovation Lab)

-Networking night with startups at MIT BioTech Incubator at Harvard

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iMUSE Conference - Service / Non-Profits

Jan/24

Wed

09:00AM-07:00PM

New House

List of Activities:

- Visit to Cambridge Innovation Center, presentation and UX design workshop with Visual.io

-Service debrief and workshop with PBHA Chinatown Afterschool Program and Harvard Square Homeless Shelter

 

-Group Projects 1st team meetings

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iMUSE - Global Media [OPEN TO PUBLIC]

Jan/25

Thu

03:00PM-04:30PM

Sloan E62-262, Open to Public

List of Activities:

- Guest Talk by Peter Doucette (BOSTON GLOBE Chief Consumer Revenue Officer)

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iMUSE Conference - Government / Boston

Jan/26

Fri

09:00AM-07:00PM

Campus

List of Activities:

- Visit to and Presentations with Boston City Hall

- Movie night out at Boston AMC Lowes

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iMUSE Conference - Project

Jan/27

Sat

09:00AM-07:00PM

Boston

List of Activities:

-Hot pot dinner @ iHouse

-Gordon Engineering Leadership Workshop

-Project work time

-PBHA Service Conference @Harvard Science Center

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iMUSE Conference - Closing Ceremony

Jan/28

Sun

09:00AM-01:00PM

MIT Campus

List of Activities:

- Project presentations

- Closing ceremony

Randall Lewis, Netflix (MIT PhD Econ 2010)

Jan/29

Mon

02:30PM-04:00PM

E51-395

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

There are many great jobs at internet companies available to well-trained economists. In this talk, I will discuss several career paths of economists working in tech, day-to-day life on the job, and how economists can contribute based on my decade of experience working tech companies. My discussion will be complemented by a real-world technical research project titled Incrementality Bidding & Attribution which outlines a decision engine built on the foundations of machine learning and causal econometrics.

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Maren Young, 617 258-6549, MARENY@MIT.EDU

Phil Vita, Realtor

Jan/11

Thu

12:00PM-01:00PM

56-154

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required

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.

Come meet the experts from MIT Federal Credit Union, Vita Realty Group & Members Mortgage Company to talk about:

- How to find the right property for you (for today and the future) 

- Trends in today's housing market

- Financing options available for first time homebuyers

- And much more

Register here.

Sponsor(s): MIT Federal Credit Union
Contact: Meghan Melvin, NE48, 617 715-4703, MBROWNCU@MIT.EDU

Phil Vita, Realtor

Jan/17

Wed

12:00PM-01:00PM

32-144

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required

Thinking about buying a fixer upper? Want to learn more about the home inspection process? 

Come meet the experts from MIT Federal Credit Union, Vita Realty Group & Jackson Home Inspection to learn more about:

- What you're getting into before you consider a fixer upper

- What to look for when buying a fixer upper

- Advantages of a fixer upper vs. brand new

- The home inspection process and what to look out for

- And much more

Register here.

Sponsor(s): MIT Federal Credit Union
Contact: Meghan Melvin, NE48, 617 715-4703, MBROWNCU@MIT.EDU

Sophia Lin MBA '12

Jan/31

Wed

06:00PM-07:00PM

E62-250

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required

Fintech is shaping financial services, succeeding in areas where traditional financial institutions failed. Building a fintech idea is interesting, but also challenging. This short talk will walk through the fintech ecosystem, the challenges you should prepare yourself for, and the local resources you should look into. 

Register for this free event: http://alumic.mit.edu/how_to_start_a_fintech_venture_2018

Sponsor(s): Alumni Association
Contact: Elena Byrne, W98-206C, 617 252-1143, EBYRNE@MIT.EDU

Sanjay Manandhar '89, SM '91, Founder & CEO Aerva, Inc

Feb/01

Thu

06:00PM-07:00PM

32-144

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required

This session will discuss how to think about:

1. Business model of the venture
2. Pricing Framework
3. LTV (lifetime value) of a customer
4. COCA (cost of customer acquisition)

Among other topics to make sure a venture is designed correctly to be in a good position to make money. The Case Study I will take is the company I founded, ran, and exited without taking any outside capital, called Aerva (www.aerva.com).

Register today!

Sponsor(s): Alumni Association
Contact: Elena Byrne, W98-206C, 617 252-1143, EBYRNE@MIT.EDU

Jonathan Piskorowski SM '07, Andrew Henwood SM '07

Jan/24

Wed

02:00PM-04:00PM

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

2:00 – 3:00 pm. Introduction to Corp. Credit Analysis
3:00 – 4:00 p.m. Introduction to Equity valuation

Register today!

Sponsor(s): Alumni Association
Contact: Elena Byrne, W98-206C, 617 252-1143, EBYRNE@MIT.EDU

Todd Hall, Policy Associate, J-PAL North America

Jan/30

Tue

04:30PM-05:30PM

E51-372

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

State and local governments are actively innovating and experimenting with approaches to address complex policy challenges. Yet they often lack the benefit of rigorous evidence about which policies and programs are most effective. J-PAL North America, a research center in the MIT Department of Economics, hosts the State and Local Innovation Initiative to support US governments in launching randomized evaluations to inform their policy questions. Come hear how five jurisdictions partnered with academic researchers to address pressing issues, from understanding the impact of summer jobs programs to studying the effects of different Medicaid managed care plans. This talk will highlight real-world challenges to implementing randomized evaluations in government and may be especially interesting for students interested in careers in public policy or government.

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Todd Hall, thall@povertyactionlab.com

Marissa Freed, Assistant Director, Hillel, Marla Choslovsky, Development Director, Hillel

Jan/25

Thu

03:00PM-05:00PM

W11-180

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/24
Limited to 15 participants
Fee: $5.00 for class gift (Suggested, not required)

One of the perks of becoming an adult is earning a paycheck. Join a conversation about how adults make intentional philanthropic choices past buying cupcakes at a bake sale. All students are welcome to join this conversation about personal philanthropy. There will be an overview of how philanthropy works behind the scenes and a practical component for you to consider your own giving priorities.

 RSVP here by Wednesday January 24th 

Sponsor(s): Hillel
Contact: Marissa Freed, W11-035, 617-253-2982, MFEINMAN@MIT.EDU

Vincent Quan, Policy Manager (J-PAL North America), Sophie Shank, Policy Associate (J-PAL North America)

Jan/23

Tue

04:30PM-05:30PM

E51-395

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

Technology has the potential to help overcome challenges long considered intractable in education. The U.S. education technology—or “edtech”—industry is projected to be worth $21 billion by 2020. Yet the growth in edtech has far outpaced rigorous research on which uses of technology truly help students learn. Should schools invest in giving a laptop to every student? What types of educational software have been shown to support learning, especially for students who struggle with traditional instruction? Can low-cost text-message reminders increase college enrollment? Can online courses increase access to education among non-traditional learners? Existing educational inequality raise the stakes behind these questions—without clear evidence, policymakers may struggle to identify or scale up uses of technology that close gaps in educational achievement.

Researchers at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), based at the MIT Department of Economics, reviewed more than 100 studies to assess what we know about the impacts of different uses of education technology. Come hear what rigorous research says about the most promising uses of technology in education and how ed-tech can be leveraged to address persistent inequality. 

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Todd Hall, thall@povertyactionlab.org

Christian Catalini, Theodore T. Miller Career Development Professor

Jan/16

Tue

10:30AM-11:30AM

E51-372

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Repeating event, participants welcome at any session

The talk will provide an overview of how blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies may affect the rate and direction of innovation, market structure and competition between digital platforms, reputation systems and auctions, the provision of public goods and software protocols, data ownership, privacy and licensing. 

It will also give an overview of the recently launched MIT Cryptoeconomics Lab, and of potential research projects at the intersection of economics, innovation and computer science.

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Christian Catalini, Catalini@mit.edu

Howard Mandelcorn, LL.M., Joseph Weber, Professor of Accounting

	Jan/31	Wed	01:00PM-04:00PM	E52-164
	Feb/01	Thu	01:00PM-04:00PM	E52-164

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

This course intends to expose students to a broad range of tax issues OVER A 2 DAY PERIOD that 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 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: Howard Mandelcorn, hmandelcorn@hutchingsbarsamian.com

Tod Woolf, MIT Technology Licensing Officer

Jan/17

Wed

12:30PM-02:00PM

3-370

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required

Novel therapeutic platforms usually go through the phases of initial enthusiasm, followed by a trough of disappointment to meet the initial hype, and then after years of solving the technical challenges commercial clinical success is achieved. 

Nucleic acids drugs targeting RNA and the genome provide excellent examples of these cycles. 

Tod Woolf (Technology Licensing Officer) will describe work of his biotech teams and other biotechs in the area of antisense, RNAi and therapeutic editing that reflect phases of these boom bust cycles, with an emphasis on how chemical modification of nucleic acid drugs contributed to the enablement of nucleic acid therapeutic platforms.

This session is part of the Intellectual Property Lunch and Learn Series co-sponsored with the MIT Libraries. Food will be served.

To register for this event please contact Katrina Khalil via email: kmkhalil@mit.edu

Sponsor(s): Technology Licensing Office, Libraries
Contact: Katrina Khalil, NE18-501, 617 253-6966, kmkhalil@mit.edu

Peter Temin, Gray Professor Emeritus of Economics

Jan/10

Wed

10:30AM-12:00PM

E51-376

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

Desription and discussion of the recent book of that name, based on the Lewis model, with an epilogue on the first year of President Trump to be published when the paper edition comes out next spring.

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Peter Temin, ptemin@mit.edu

Robert Gibbons, Sloan Distinguished Professor of Management, Roberto Rigobon, Society of Sloan Fellows Professor of Management

Jan/30

Tue

01:00PM-02:30PM

E51-372

Enrollment: Unlimited: 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: Maren Young, E52-405, mareny@mit.edu

Patrick McNeal, IT Manager, J-PAL Global

Jan/31

Wed

10:30AM-11:30AM

56-162

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

This session will give an overview of how the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) uses Salesforce to track and manage our research around the global, track IRB compliance and manage lab hardware resources, with useful takeaways for other labs considering using Salesforce or looking to take their Salesforce use to the next level.

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Maren Young, 617 258-6549, MARENY@MIT.EDU

Rob Rogers, Policy Associate, J-PAL Global

Jan/31

Wed

02:30PM-04:00PM

4-149

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

What are effective ways to encourage parents in Kenya to send their daughters to school? What can we do to improve student learning in primary and secondary schools worldwide? 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 researchers in the J-PAL network use randomized controlled trials to test different approaches to improve educational outcomes around the world. 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 policy decisions.

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Maren Young, 617 258-6549, MARENY@MIT.EDU

Sam Carter, Policy Associate, Lucia Diaz-Martin, Senior Policy Associate, Eliza Keller, Policy and Communications Manager, Aprille Knox, Senior Policy Associate

Feb/01

Thu

01:00PM-02:30PM

4-153

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

How can major anti-poverty programs be designed and implemented to ensure low-income families receive benefits they are eligible for? Why are 2 billion people worldwide unbanked, and what can be done to expand access to and impact of financial products for low-income households? 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 researchers in the J-PAL network use randomized controlled trials to test different approaches to reducing corruption, improving access to finance, and generating livelihoods. 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 policy decisions.

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Maren Young, 617 258-6549, MARENY@MIT.EDU

Johny Bien-Aime, IT Associate, J-PAL Global

Feb/02

Fri

10:30AM-11:30AM

56-162

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

This session will share best practices and lessons learned from using Webex as the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) primary video conferencing solution for connecting with participants around the globe. It will be useful for other labs or individuals looking for video conference solutions when working with international partners.

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Maren Young, 617 258-6549, MARENY@MIT.EDU