The EFP team works hard to bring you the latest economic, demographic, and quality of life data for Santa Barbara County and the region. Our department also provides real-world, hands-on training in data analysis and research to undergraduate students from a range of majors, such as economics, computer science, and statistics.
Many of our student interns continue their education in graduate programs like UCSB or UC Berkeley or are hired by private firms and government agencies, both in the U.S. and abroad. Our graduate senior research analysts have gone into academia, government, and consulting roles like Rice University, U.S. Department of Treasury, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Analysis Group.
Peter Rupert, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Dr. Rupert joined the Economic Forecast Project as its executive director in 2010. He is a professor of economics and former Chair of the UCSB Department of Economics. He is Associate Director of the UCSB Laboratory for Aggregate Economics and Finance, founded by Nobel Laureate Finn Kydland. He is an Editor of the European Economic Review and Labour Economics. Prior to joining UCSB, Dr. Rupert spent 12 years as a Senior Economic Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Dr. Rupert has held appointments at the University of Western Ontario, State University of New York at Buffalo, West Virginia University, the University of Southern California, and University of London. Dr. Rupert earned his B.S. from Santa Clara University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. at University of Rochester. His areas of specialization include macroeconomics, monetary economics, economics of the criminal justice system, labor, and household economics.
Emily Johnson
Assistant Director
Emily joined the Economics Forecast Project as Assistant Director in 2024, following a lifelong passion to use economics in impactful, community-focused work. Prior to this role, she spent three years with the Environmental Protection Agency and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Chongqing, China. Emily holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Arizona and an M.A. in Economics from UCSB. Her research interests include international economic development, effective altruism, education, and financial literacy.
Thomas Fullagar
Senior Research Analyst
Thomas is a Ph.D. candidate in economics at UC Santa Barbara, specializing in the fields of labor and health economics. He earned a B.A. in economics and philosophy from Kansas State University, and his M.A. in economics from the University of Texas, Austin. Prior to attending UC Santa Barbara, he worked for Welch Consulting.
Yuanzhe Liu
Senior Research Analyst
My name is Yuanzhe Liu, and I am a job market candidate in the Department of Economics at UCSB. My research interests lie in Macroeconomics, Computational Economics, and Bayesian Econometrics. Currently, I am working on leveraging Deep Learning and Reinforcement Learning techniques to solve dynamic stochastic models, particularly Heterogeneous Agent models, and integrating the innovative solution method with likelihood-free Bayesian inference.
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