Isaac Backer
MSc Student
Isaac Backer
MSc Student
Isaac holds a Bachelor’s degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics and an Honours degree in Economics from UNSW Sydney. He is a predoctoral fellow at the Manos Institute for Cognitive Economics and a research assistant at the UNSW School of Economics. His methodological interests span statistical prediction and causal inference, with a focus on their ability to inform public policy. His conceptual interests include economic decision making, perception, populism, cognitive biases and political signalling.
He received First Class Honours for a thesis that developed an alternative U.S. economic sentiment index using search-engine data, mitigating bias from politically motivated ‚ expressive responding‚ in survey-based measures. At the Manos Institute, he works on applying database theory to theoretical models of cognitive deduction and perception.
Economics, machine learning, causal inference, political signalling, perception, populism