Eric Lenz' Economics Blog
I earned my Ph.D. in Economics at Southern Illinois University in 2015. I've taught economics and statistics for several years. I also research international and financial economics. I'm currently an instructional assistant professor at Illinois State University. In the past, I was an Economics and International Affairs instructor at Texas A&M University. There I taught courses in economic data analysis, quantitative methods, and international economics. I also enjoy learning and teaching with SAS, Stata, and R.
Here's a link to my R Markdown project for a Google Analytics course case study: http://rpubs.com/lenzeric/casestudy. R Markdown can show your program code, output, and normal text in one HTML page, PDF, or Word document.
Teaching and research update - Fall 2021
Welcome to my blog! This summer I taught an introductory statistics course and recorded/edited the lectures. I'm using the lectures now in a "flipped" classroom. Also, I'm presenting a virtual poster at the 2022 AEA/ASSA Meeting.
Estimate confidence and forecast intervals in Stata
Is 6% GDP growth likely for the United States in 2021? I estimate confidence and forecast intervals in Stata to show that 6% growth or more would be an outlier. I discuss recent growth forecasts, characteristics of the normal distribution, the theory and interpretation of a confidence interval, and finally I estimate confidence and forecast intervals in Stata.
Forecast GDP growth in Stata
Learn how to forecast in Stata with two examples of GDP growth. First, I forecast U.S. real GDP growth into 2025 to determine how quickly the U.S. economy may recover from the pandemic. Then, I forecast world real GDP growth into 2025 and directly after the global financial crisis. Finally, I compare my forecast with IMF forecasts after the global crisis.
Create maps in Stata with spmap
How can you create nice maps in Stata? Kevin Crow and William Gould at StataCorp write a nice walkthrough about using the spmap command. I follow their basic outline using income per person and county coordinate data. Then I show how to customize the color palette, change the legend, and display z-scores.
Create an Attendance Grade using Zoom Reports
How can you incentivize your students to attend online lectures in Zoom? Zoom records meetings and participant information. The participant information includes names, email addresses, dates and times, and the participant's duration in the meeting. I use the participant's duration in each meeting to create an attendance grade in Stata.
"Economic Reasoning Using Statistics"
Are some counties in Illinois handling coronavirus (COVID-19) better than others? Can we find evidence of global warming in the patterns of melting lake ice in Russia? These are some of the topics that will be covered this fall in ECO 138: Economic Reasoning Using Statistics.
I'm proud of the work that Anna and I have done this summer to make the introductory statistics course, ECO 138, a little more exciting and applicable to future careers. I'm teaching ECO 138 this fall 2020 and spring 2021 - be sure to enroll and join the fun!
Teaching Innovations Grant - July 2020
The University Teaching Committee at Illinois State University is funding work for my project-based, introductory statistics course for next fall! The project-based approach to my course involves cooperation with local businesses and academic departments to investigate authentic problems using simple statistical methods. My project-based course will focus on five (5) specific elements that are not typically offered in an introductory statistics course: active learning and exploration, intentional use of student writing, collaboration with peers and student-faculty interaction, challenging instruction and high expectation, and critical thinking and student reflection.
If you are an undergraduate student in Economics at Illinois State University, living in Bloomington-Normal this summer, and interested in earning extra income and research experience, then please contact me at lenz.eric@gmail.com or visit the ISU hiring site with position ID 0713351 at https://www.jobs.ilstu.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/position/JobDetails_css.jsp?postingId=298346.
"The Dynamics of Environmental Policy Making in China"
I worked with Linda Bollivar in the Office of International Studies and Programs to invite a visiting Fulbright scholar to lecture on environmental policy in China. I was a Fulbright teaching assistant in Austria before formally studying Economics. I'm still interested in international economics and affairs, so I jumped on this opportunity provided by the Fulbright Outreach Lecturing Fund.
Dr. Xueying Yu is visiting Cornell University from Beihang University in China. Check out her talk on Thursday, February 20th at 2pm in Stevenson 347B.
Simple linear regression model
An easy-to-follow example of a simple linear regression model with one explanatory variable and five observations in open source spreadsheet software. See how the estimation of Y changes with new inputs of X. Also, see how the parameters of the regression equation change with different values of X and Y.