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EconomicsPath

EconomicsPath presents economics as a methodological field with econometrics as the spine: identification under named assumptions, the credibility revolution and its modern machine-learning extension, policy-relevant subfields, and the history of economic thought that ties them together.

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Launch target

Topic pages
70
Diagnostics
1
Exercises
250

Canonical reference stack

  • Wooldridge, Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data.
  • Hayashi, Econometrics.
  • Hansen, Econometrics.
  • Angrist and Pischke, Mostly Harmless Econometrics.
  • Angrist and Pischke, Mastering 'Metrics.
  • Mas-Colell, Whinston, and Green, Microeconomic Theory.
  • Romer, Advanced Macroeconomics.
  • Hamilton, Time Series Analysis.
  • Fudenberg and Tirole, Game Theory.
  • Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow.

Modules

Layer 0

Economic Reference Layer

Give learners precise language for high-search economics concepts without becoming a popular-economics blog.

  • What is economics?
  • Supply and demand
  • GDP and national accounts
  • Inflation and unemployment
  • Public goods and externalities
  • Comparative advantage

Layer 1

Credibility-Revolution Methods

Teach causal identification as the central methodological question in applied economics.

  • Instrumental variables
  • Regression discontinuity
  • Difference-in-differences
  • Synthetic control
  • Randomized controlled trials
  • External validity

Layer 2

Econometrics and Machine Learning

Bridge modern ML methods into econometric interpretation without blurring causality and prediction.

  • Double-debiased ML
  • Causal forests
  • Heterogeneous treatment effects
  • High-dimensional synthetic control
  • Text as data in economics
  • Forecasting with ML

Layer 3

Core Fields

Map micro, macro, public, labor, development, trade, IO, health, urban, and environmental economics.

  • Microeconomics overview
  • Macroeconomics overview
  • Public economics
  • Labor economics
  • Development economics
  • Industrial organization

Layer 4

Behavior and Institutions

Cover behavioral, experimental, institutional, ecological, feminist, Marxian, and post-Keynesian research programs with source discipline.

  • Behavioral economics
  • Experimental economics
  • Institutions
  • Post-Keynesian economics
  • Ecological economics
  • History of economic thought

Layer 5

Graduate Companion

Help serious learners read economics papers, build field lists, and understand doctoral-training milestones without claiming to replace them.

  • Reading economics papers
  • Replicating empirical papers
  • Field reading lists
  • Comprehensive exams
  • Dissertation proposals
  • Job-market overview

First topics

Layer 1 / tier 1

Instrumental Variables

Diagram: Instrument shifts treatment but affects outcome only through treatment

State relevance, exclusion, monotonicity, and the estimand before interpreting an IV estimate.

Layer 1 / tier 1

Regression Discontinuity Design

Diagram: Outcome on both sides of a treatment cutoff with a local jump

Compare sharp and fuzzy RD assumptions near the cutoff.

Layer 1 / tier 1

Difference-in-Differences

Diagram: Treatment and control trends before and after policy adoption

Name the parallel-trends assumption and two ways it can fail.

Layer 1 / tier 1

Synthetic Control Method

Diagram: Weighted donor pool matching a treated unit before intervention

Explain what pre-treatment fit can and cannot justify.

Layer 1 / tier 1

The Credibility Revolution

Diagram: RCT, IV, RD, DiD, and synthetic-control designs around an estimand

Classify an empirical paper by its identification strategy.

Layer 2 / tier 1

Double-Debiased ML for Economists

Diagram: Nuisance models feeding an orthogonal score

Separate the nuisance-prediction task from the target causal parameter.

Layer 2 / tier 1

Causal Forests Explained

Diagram: Feature splits designed to estimate treatment-effect heterogeneity

Distinguish prediction of outcomes from estimation of conditional treatment effects.

Layer 0 / tier 2

GDP Explained

Diagram: Expenditure components flowing into national output

Classify transactions as consumption, investment, government spending, or net exports.

Layer 1 / tier 1

External Validity in Economics

Diagram: Study population, target population, and transfer conditions

Name why a clean local estimate may not identify the policy target elsewhere.

Layer 1 / tier 2

What Is an Economics PhD Comprehensive Exam?

Diagram: Coursework, comprehensive exam, field sequence, dissertation proposal

Compare comp-exam requirements across named programs without overgeneralizing.

Linking and pedagogy

  • EconomicsPath owns economic interpretation, identification strategy, policy context, and named assumptions.
  • TheoremPath owns the technical machinery for probability, statistics, optimization, and machine-learning theory.
  • ProbabilityPath and StatisticsPath receive mathematical-prerequisite links; PhilosophyPath receives methodology and rational-choice framing links.
  • Do not duplicate TheoremPath technical pages. Link to them when the math is load-bearing.
  • Default register is first-year graduate, with Layer-0 pages used as reference surfaces rather than the editorial center.
  • Every causal page names the estimand, population, identifying assumption, and threats to identification before discussing estimates.
  • Every coefficient discussion distinguishes estimand from estimator.
  • No page gives investment recommendations, portfolio advice, trading strategies, or partisan policy advocacy.