In 2022 I’ll have posted 34 Uptown Frunk articles. This translates to 34 out of 52 Friday’s of my stated goal to post each week, or a 65% hit rate. It also means I’ve written over 41,000 words, and 178 equivalent pages. I’ve written almost always about something economics related, as well as 4 posts related to engineering and physics, 19 mentions of crypto, and 9 mentions of France or Paris, even though I no longer lived there.
My most popular post was when I correctly predicted 29/32 first round matchups in the NCAA mens basketball tournament using a logistic regression,
followed by Babcock ranch FL for being 100% solar powered.
I’m generally happy with my posts from this year, the conversations spurred from them, and the privilege to learn, teach, and connect ideas. The goal of this newsletter isn’t to generate content to become viral or famous, (although I’m happy to share with anyone), nor is it to persuade or call to action. I generally use these posts as a cathartic exercise for me, to practice writing, and collect my thoughts around economics in a relatable way. For creative hobbies some people paint, some bake, and some play music. I like to write, and think about economics, and plan to continue this into 2023.
As for the new year of posts, I thought I’d preview a menu of new topics I’m considering. Feel free to comment, or let me know if any sound particularly interesting, of which I’m happy to spend more time on.
AI applications in economics, for modeling, measuring, and use for firms and workers
Statistics basics, and comparing to a real world example
Problems with surveys and ties to compensation and economic research
Detecting outliers: is it a break from a trend or error in measurement?
My thoughts on moving to Delaware
Theories on taxes, do they help, hurt, or why have them anyway?
Thoughts while traveling
A book review for someone who wants to learn about econ
Dives into the economics of developing countries
Types of retirement and savings accounts, what does it all mean?
Additionally, I’d like to revisit and provide updates on old topics, such as the March Madness model, problems with macro and micro theory (with help from my coursework next semester), relevant recent papers in the field, and advancements in energy tech.
Economics is a special subject because a lot of people, not just economists, care about it. And sometimes a basic knowledge can be very useful in a wide range of fields in a professional way, but also affect individuals on a personally. There’s a lot that even experts still don’t know, and doing the work to create experiments, connect concepts, and uncover truths can help us as a community, a nation, and a globe.
And I’m excited to get to work
This is incredible, Frank! Writing an article once a week is no easy feat, especially at the quality standard you've been able to maintain. Kudos and i'm looking forward to all the articles this year!