I am an economist by training and an entrepreneur at heart. Writing this blog keeps me thinking about what I am doing and why. I discuss projects I am working on or other things going on in my life, with an emphasis on economics and decision-making. For now I maintain a Peace Corps blog more actively.

Services

If you’d like you can look at my portfolio. I am not capable of much in the way of analytical work pending my return from the Peace Corps, but I have experience in the following areas:

Economic Research: Forecasting, impact analysis, and written discussion of economic events.
Statistical Analysis: Impacts and relationships with a focus on human behavior and social variables.

Interests and Experience

I like to think about data and how we can use it to do interesting things. I am in the process of creating an open source economic impact model in the vein of IMPLAN or RIMS II. There ought to be free software for doing economic impact of analysis. Currently I am in Niger with the Peace Corps, and am spending my remaining year working with local partners to teach gender awareness and communication and decision-making skills to youth.

I am also interested in small businesses, eco-friendly businesses, development in West Africa, micro-finance, and any other small and nimble agent going up against the big guys.

I have a B.A. in Economics from Hampshire College (flash site) and an M.S. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Massachusetts. I have worked at REMI as an economic consultant and was a research scientist at the University of New Mexico’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER). The last two years I have been in Africa working as a Small Enterprise Development Volunteer (in Guinea) and a Municipal Community Development Volunteer (in Niger) with the Peace Corps. I am currently serving a volunteer post as a Life Skills Component Manager with an international NGO and will be here until September 2011.

My work at BBER centered on economic and fiscal analysis, such as examining the impacts of the Santa Fe living wage, looking at economic leakages for the Town of Taos, determining the economic contributions of our national forests, and a variety of smaller projects.

Most of my work has been done with SAS, SPSS, GIS, IMPLAN and ridiculous amounts of Excel. I am developing python and database experience in my free time.

My non-professional interests include Aikido and Ultimate Frisbee.

If you’d like to contact me, you can send me a message here.

Thanks

-Nick (zot)