Isaac Opper
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imopper.bsky.social
Isaac Opper
@imopper.bsky.social
180 followers 220 following 17 posts
Senior economist at RAND
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imopper.bsky.social
Isaac Opper @imopper.bsky.social · Dec 4
1/ Want to estimate the average effect of a treatment rather than restricting your estimate to the compliers?

My paper just out in the Journal of Econometrics gives you another tool, with an R package available on GitHub!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
From LATE to ATE: A Bayesian approach
We develop a Bayesian model that produces a posterior distribution of the marginal treatment effect (MTE) function. The method provides researchers wi…
www.sciencedirect.com
Reposted by Isaac Opper
jessebruhn.bsky.social
Hey #econsky! I'm organizing a workshop at Brown this Spring in partnership with Eric Nielsen and Viviana Rodriguez.

The topic is educational measurement. Please submit a paper/extended abstract! We'd love to consider your work.

And please help us spread the word to folks who aren't on bluesky!
December 10, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Reposted by Isaac Opper
kwcollins.bsky.social
A pro-affordability, anti-Trump-corruption message unites the party. Every candidate can run on that, and every candidate can have their own take to fit that to their constituents. There's really no need to find fights to pick when the party agrees on more than it disagrees
jenvictor.bsky.social Jennifer N. Victor @jenvictor.bsky.social · Nov 5
Came here to say this, but Jamelle Bouie has this covered. 👇
When the Democratic tent includes candidates like Spanberger and Mamdani, there is no crisis, or fight, for the party. IT’S A COALITION, NOT A POINT ESTIMATE.
jamellebouie.net jamelle @jamellebouie.net · Nov 4
i want to repeat this: mamdani and spanberger have run similar campaigns tailored to their respective electorates and it is maddening to watch political journalists attempt to create some broad contrast where none exist
November 5, 2025 at 2:15 AM
imopper.bsky.social
This situation is so so sad. But I've finally remembered that doing something, however small it seems, is better than doing nothing. I set up a recurring donation and would encourage others to consider doing so as well.
July 26, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Reposted by Isaac Opper
daviddarmofal.bsky.social
Miami, FL Catholic priest Father Federico Capdepón: “To have this Alligator Alcatraz is a very sinful initiative — to say nobody can escape because the gators are around is very sinful.”
catholicreview.org/miami-clergy...
Miami clergy raise concerns as Trump tours Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' - Catholic Review
Most Americans agree on the need for good U.S. border security, but to hear politicians and civil authorities hurl insults and jokes at the expense of migrants as Florida opened its new "Alligator Alc...
catholicreview.org
July 4, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Reposted by Isaac Opper
atwilliams.bsky.social
like the old joke about being a liberal when you're young and a conservative when you're old:

"if you didn't have trump derangement syndrome in the first admin, you have no heart; if you didn't have trump derangement syndrome in the second admin, you have no brain"
February 14, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Isaac Opper
michaelcaley.bsky.social
obviously this is terrible for democracy and the rule of law in America

but I'm also offended on behalf of the prisoner's dilemma
February 14, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Reposted by Isaac Opper
rachelmarisa.bsky.social
this from a representative at American Institutes for Research about DOGE/Trump cancelling IES contracts is spot on (& good on them for speaking out clearly about this)
“This is an incredible waste of taxpayer dollars, which have been invested—per Congressional appropriations and many according to specific legislation—in long-standing data collection and analysis efforts, and policy and program evaluations,” Tofig said. “These investments inform the entire education system at all levels about the condition of education and the distribution of students, teachers, and resources in school districts across America. Many of these contracts are nearing completion and canceling them now yields the taxpayers no return on their investment. If the purpose of such cuts is to make sure taxpayer dollars are not wasted and used well, the evaluation and data work that has been terminated is exactly the work that determines which programs are effective uses of federal dollars, and which are not.”
February 11, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Reposted by Isaac Opper
themlg.bsky.social
Step 1: Don’t doom on the timeline.
Step 2: Don’t doom at all.
Step 3: Do things. Small things count.
Step 4: Repeat forever.

This is both exhausting and liberating.
January 21, 2025 at 5:22 AM
Reposted by Isaac Opper
ejacobslaw.com
LA fires are a good reminder that the only difference between me and any refugee is luck.
January 8, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Reposted by Isaac Opper
joshua-goodman.com
The US Dept of Ed is looking to hire an Economist as a career position at the GS-13 level. The deadline is in 3 days!

Could be a great opportunity (and happy to tell you more from my time interacting with that team).

www.usajobs.gov/job/825004800
Economist, GS-0110-13, FPL: GS-13 (Direct Hire)
<p>This position is in the immediate Office of the Under Secretary (OUS), located in Washington, DC. OUS assists the Secretary in the discharge of Secretarial duties and responsibilities, focusing&nbs...
www.usajobs.gov
December 23, 2024 at 5:07 PM
imopper.bsky.social
1/ Want to estimate the average effect of a treatment rather than restricting your estimate to the compliers?

My paper just out in the Journal of Econometrics gives you another tool, with an R package available on GitHub!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
From LATE to ATE: A Bayesian approach
We develop a Bayesian model that produces a posterior distribution of the marginal treatment effect (MTE) function. The method provides researchers wi…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 4, 2024 at 10:45 PM
Reposted by Isaac Opper
jessebruhn.bsky.social
In Baghdad in 2008 some of the most squared away patrols I ever went on were lead by female MPs (another victory for the roy model #EconSky).

Women have been in combat jobs (formally / informally) for 20 years now and we still have the greatest military on earth. Why would anyone want to go back?
katzish.bsky.social Amanda Katz @katzish.bsky.social · Nov 14
“Where do you think I lost my legs? In a bar fight?” Tammy Duckworth on CNN is not having this “no women in combat” thing from Sec of Defense pick and war crimes enthusiast Pete Hegseth
November 14, 2024 at 2:14 PM
imopper.bsky.social
And written by some of the kindest people out there!
dynarski.bsky.social Prof Dynarski @dynarski.bsky.social · Nov 18
Holy crap this is an astounding piece of historical research

Will post ungated link later today unless someone beats me to it

www.nber.org/system/files...
The G.I. Bill, Standardized Testing, and Socioeconomic Origins of the U.S. Educational Elite Over a Century Ran Abramitzky, Jennifer K. Kowalski, Santiago Pérez, and Joseph Price NBER Working Paper No. 33164 November 2024 JEL No. 123, 124, N32 ABSTRACT We compile, transcribe, and standardize historical records for 2.5 million students at 65 elite (private and public) U.S. colleges. By combining these data with more recent survey and administrative data, we assemble the largest dataset on the socioeconomic backgrounds of students at American colleges spanning the last 100 years. We document the following: First, despite a large increase in the share of lower-income students in the overall college-going population, the representation of these students at elite private or public colleges has remained at similarly low levels throughout the last century. Second, the representation of upper-income students at elite colleges decreased after World War II, but this group has regained its high representation since the 1980s. Third, while there has been no increase in the economic diversity of elite private and public colleges, these colleges have become more racially and geographically diverse. Fourth, two major policy changes in the history of American higher education, namely the G.I. Bill after World War II and the introduction of standardized tests for admissions, had little success in increasing the representation of lower- and middle-income students at elite colleges.
November 18, 2024 at 5:04 PM