Amy Guisinger | Photo by Adam Atkinson
Research area: I am a macroeconomist whose work focuses on empirical time series methods. My research centers on policy-relevant questions with an interest in heterogeneity (disaggregating data by geography, industry, gender, age, etc.). I am motivated by questions related to investigating if commonly held beliefs about the economy are consistent when data is disaggregated, and exploring what additional information we can obtain when using disaggregated data. For example, I explore questions related to the variability of economic relationships when taking into account geography, the connectedness of industries and sectors throughout the business cycle, and age and gender differences in unemployment dynamics. Most recently, I’ve been interested in understanding and quantifying the information in the forecasts of the Federal Reserve and the implications for monetary policy.
My Lafayette journey: While I had not had any prior experience with liberal arts colleges, I was quickly drawn to the liberal arts mindset of community and inclusivity and Lafayette’s focus on excellent teaching and scholarship. I love that I can teach classes on topics I am passionate about, and the small class sizes allow the students to engage with the material in ways that were not possible for me when I was a student at a large university. The dynamic environment of our department makes me excited to come to work every day, and I am energized learning from my colleagues all across campus who are energetic and leaders in their fields.
What I will be teaching in the fall: I am teaching ECON 224: Macroeconomy Data and Analysis. There is so much high-quality, macroeconomic data that is free and readily available, but it can be hard to know how to understand it or how to relate to the theories from class. I developed this elective to get students comfortable using data for decision-making while also thinking critically about the pitfalls and ethics around data collection and methods.
Read more about faculty members who have been promoted to associate professor with continuous tenure.
