Yang's First Week

Drinking from a fire hose.

I knew the learning curve was going to pretty steep, so it was not unexpected. I absolutely love the intensity. So far this week I got looped into JPMC's macro conference call, read up on Deutsch Bank's macroeconomic forecasts for 2009, and the various prognosis from the mandarins at the Fed and Treasury. If you want to be in the middle of the action Fannie is exactly where you want to be. Eye of the storm and all that.

And having the full SAS license is pretty sweet too. My long term project of formalizing the housing starts model is fitfully underway. My first attempt- standard ARMAX and ARIMA process was... ugly- which is something I kind of expected since I was more interested in setting up the codes than I am getting a full blown implementable result.

Washington DC is seriously buzzed about the inauguration. Everyone has sensibly shut down for Tuesday, but I think a good chunk of my co-workers are showing up for the inauguration. It's hard not to be swept up by the excitement of it all.

On a somewhat personally professional note, it's easy to bash the politicians and the bureaucracy they nominally lord over, but the rank-and-file technocrats really do care about what they do. The economists who work in DC are motivated by a sense of service and the pride of profession, and I for one would like to thank the NTSB for helping to ensure the safety of our airplanes.

I told the HR lady that California passed a law against texting-and-driving. She gave me this incredulous are-you-fucking-kidding-me look.

[3900 Wisconsin Pic from here. Common license term here]