Economist Writing Every Day

I just back from the Society of Labor Economics Meetings in Portland. A couple thoughts in no particular order

1. Conferences are about both luxuriating and reinvesting in our geographically dispersed social networks. Everything else is a secondary. Its not just that I like seeing these people who speak our language and share our jokes, I genuinely miss them when it’s been too long.
2. Post sessions are fantastic for applied work. I enjoyed multiple 2 to 4 person discussions with an actively engaged author who had a perfect prop to lean on. Great stuff.
3. If you’re going to give a keynote, don’t try to impress people, try to educate them on something you specialize it. We all miss being students. Give us a crash course to distract us from the hotel catering.
4. Portland, and the Pacific Northwest in general, is just beautiful. Go to the Japanese Gardens next time you are there.