Presentations and Publications

Presentations

Great analysts do not only need impeccable statistical knowledge and programming skills. He also needs to possess great presentation skills. Although the sole creator of this website has already displayed both (almost ad nauseam) on this website he will also include sample PowerPoint presentations as a testament to his skills.

Gentrification in Chicago and Pilsen Presentation

Gentrification Analysis

Gentrification is when wealthier newcomers push out previous residents due to economic pressures their presence causes. When wealthier inhabitants move into a neighborhood the additional money beckon to more investment, businesses, and amenities that result in a higher cost of living.

Minorities are more susceptible to their communities being gentrified due to the reverberating effects of economic disenfranchisement. Certain minority communities that were culturally iconic such as Harlem are losing virtually every aspect that made the communities special in the first place, as the people who lived there for generations are being forced out due to rising rents.

Pilsen is another example of a culturally rich neighborhood that is deteriorating due to an influx of wealthy outsiders moving into the neighborhood. Forbes once listed Pilsen as one of the top 12 coolest communities in the whole world. Pilsen a hub of Latin American cuisine (that is also quite affordable) now has a Taco Bell in the neighborhood, which is doubtlessly interpreted as an affront to many long-time dwellers in the neighborhood who are accustomed to eating some of the best Latino dishes available anywhere.

Gentrification is not all bad though. Gentrification is not an inherently racist phenomenon. It was coined by a European woman while observing racially homogenous whites in London. However, gentrification is much more dramatic and apparent when it happens transracially (or interracially). (Note that historic disenfranchisement does make minorities more susceptible to being pushed out of their communities. Chicago’s overtly historic discriminatory housing policies make it a noteworthy case study). Some researchers have found that gentrification reduces crime and improves neighborhoods in other ways. The writer even interviewed a Latino Pilsen landlord who was just happy that he could charge higher rent. In the PowerPoint, the author visually explores the nuances of this phenomenon.

The outline of the speech is provided below. Bear in mind this is an informative speech. The listeners were free to form their own stance on the issue.

Enviormental Racism

Enviormental Racism Analysis

Many people will assume that certain minorities would tend to live near pollutants, dumps, and superfunds since on average they are statistically poorer than their white counterparts. Research shows that race, not class is the greatest predictor of whether someone will live near a superfund. Superfunds are designated sites where toxic waste and other pollutants are processed and stored.

Environmental racism is an issue that has received bipartisan acknowledgment to an extent. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Trump acknowledged that this form of racism happens. However, there have been several rollbacks in environmental protections for minorities in both D.C as well as black and brown communities across the country. The PowerPoint explores the problem and the potential solutions regarding environmental racism in Chicago. The sources used to create the speech has been provided below. Unfourtunately, the outline of the speech could not be located.

The Great Silence - Group Project Italian Film

Spoiler alert for The Great Silence (1968).The movie is excellent.

This is a Powerpoint Presentation for a group project for an Italian film class. I was the team leader for this project.

Publications

I have two published articles. Both topics relate to my major Economics. The articles are quite concise. I received commemoration from my editors both years I submitted an article. The second article is still relevant even though a respectable amount of time has transpired. Both of these publications have been published in the UIC OneWorld Journal. Enjoy.

Negative Interest Rates

I penned the first draft of the article in 2019. It was published in the Spring of 2020. I brought attention to the fact that 75% of economists were calling for a recession by 2021. The National Bureau of Economics (NBER) declared the recession started in February 2020 in June of the same year, per CNN Business.

The author was tracking the pandemic in its infancy in December 2019 while most of the world was unaware of the virus that eventually halted the world. (This was not really a factor when highlighting the recession predictions of many economists that proved to be correct). However, many people blame the pandemic solely on the recession itself. The recession was declared to have started in February 2020. This was well before Trump announced the 15 days to slow the spread initiative a month later in March when the pandemic really started to grip the United States.

Negative interest rates have not been implemented yet in the United States. It has been predicted by powerful figures in the financial world such as Alan Greenspan. Trump also pressured the Federal Reserve to drop interest rates negatively while he was president. Some argue that negative rates have been implemented when looking at the real rates, not the nominal. Real rates refer to the interest paid on deposits in regard to purchasing power. People who earn little interest on their money end up having less purchasing power even though their balance is slightly higher. In actuality, negative nominal interest rates are a whole other ball game.

Possible Radical Ramifications

The article is worth reading. Even though it was written in 2020 and published in 2021 the article is even more pertinent now. A lot of content had to be cut to fit inside of the word limit. Inflation is not mentioned by name, but it is an inevitable consequence of the US dollar being threatened, food shortages, and the disruption of supply chains that were discussed in the text. Job losses also continue to get worse for certain industries including for those once considered safe. I received positive feedback from my assigned editor for this paper.