West Garrett Email & Phone Number

Washington, DC, US

Washington DC

Washington D.C. Metro Area

• Economist in the Office of Policy and Research (OPR) at the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). Managed 4 agency contracts on financial data subscriptions and provided related descriptive, financial.
• Wrote an in-depth memo on mutual fund expense ratios for the Deputy Assistant Secretary of EBSA in 2015; the agency submitted the corresponding analysis as part of its Regulatory Impact Analysis for a proposed rule.
• In responding to Investment Company Institute (ICI)’s comments on the proposed Conflict of Interest (COI) / Fiduciary Rule and using Morningstar data, performed many extensive analyses in STATA and Excel to refute.
• Identified high fee index funds and ERISA pension plans that invest in these funds using Morningstar and BrightScope data, contributed to writing a memo on this enforcement project, and briefed findings to the Deputy.
• Developed and delivered presentations to senior management, 5 regional offices, all 3 district offices, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
• Received 3 Secretary of Labor Exceptional Achievement Awards.Keywords: economic analysis, data analysis, econometrics, financial analysis, contract management, retirement policy, employee benefits research

Austin, Texas Area

• Provided statistical expertise and analyzed data for a start-up company that detects student cheating in online courses, usually by identifying inconsistencies in typing styles. Accomplishment¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
• Improved statistical significance from 93% to 96% by reducing error rate in proprietary software.Keywords: statistical analysis, data analysis, research

Austin, Texas Area

• Conducted quantitative analysis for financial, fiscal, and criminal justice data projects using STATA and Excel. Interpreted and analyzed legislative bills and wrote fiscal notes in the 83rd Legislative.
• Directed quantitative analysis and collaborated on the qualitative analysis with the Project Manager for the Discretionary Grant Closeout Evaluation of a public defender’s office (PDO) in 2 Texas counties.
• Survey Design: Designed and analyzed the results of a survey of county judges on a regional PDO.Keywords: data analysis, policy analysis, research, fiscal and budget analysis, writing, statistical analysis, STATA.

Austin, Texas Area

• Updated, developed, and automated the strategic asset allocation (SAA) model to forecast asset returns over a 10-year time horizon. Completed many ad-hoc data management and analysis requests using STATA, MATLAB, and.
• Pension Plan Analysis: Served as a key member of workgroup for the Pension Benefit Design Study of TRS’s $110 billion fund; wrote and edited portions of the study, provided several analyses and visualizations of the.
• Provided economic and budget analysis under the direction of the CFO for materials presented to the TRS Board of Trustees and used for preparing TRS’s Legislative Appropriation Request (LAR).Keywords: data analysis.

Austin, Texas Area

• Corresponded regularly with clients and provided their data, statistical, analytical, and written requests, often involving 24- or 48-hour deadlines and including a project with 18 million observations. Analyzed.
• Managed labor economics projects from initial data stage to completed expert report.
• Conducted research on economic topics, such as evaluating household services, valuing employee stock options, and examining labor market data, to increase long-term company productivity.
• Took the initiative to research and implement a cost-effective retirement plan for the company.Keywords: economic and litigation consulting, data analysis, data management, economic analysis, STATA programming, client.

Austin, Texas Area

• Presented quantitative findings on K-12 and higher education data to the LBB, the Texas Legislature, and state agencies primarily using SAS and Excel. Interpreted and analyzed legislative bills and wrote fiscal notes.
• Conducted econometric and statistical analysis on the relationship between a student receiving a TEXAS Grant and his/her success in college using an Ordered Logit Regression.
• Testified as a subject-matter expert in the Texas House of Representatives about this econometric analysis and its implications, resulting in a biennium increase of $186 million for TEXAS Grants.
• Improved the methodology for forecasting the bilingual student count of each Texas school district by using panel data estimation, and distributed an informative summary in my agency.
• Delivered suggestions for improving the methodology used in the Texas Cost-of-Education Index.Keywords: data analysis, economic analysis, policy analysis, fiscal and budget analysis, econometrics, statistical analysis.

Austin, Texas Area

• Conducted research to extend the findings of David Romer’s “Do Firms Maximize? Evidence from Professional Football” (Journal of Political Economy, 2006) to gauge profit maximization for NCAA football programs..
• Trained undergraduate students to import, filter, and interpret raw data using a custom Excel macro.
• Supervised the collection and tabulation of 8 seasons of NCAA Division I-A football data.Keywords: data analysis, data management, economic analysis, econometrics, statistical analysis, STATA programming, writing.

Austin, Texas Area

Served as Economics Dept. teaching assistant (T.A.) for a writing-intensive international economics class, and Finance Dept. T.A. for 3 classes, including MBA macroeconomics and MBA mergers and acquisitions.Keywords: data management, economic analysis, financial analysis, teaching, research

Washington D.C. Metro Area

• Analyzed private nonresidential construction data for monthly press release on total U.S. construction. Accomplishment¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
• Designed an improved classification system of construction projects in the education category.Keywords: data analysis, data management, economic analysis, statistical analysis, communication, research

Master Of Science, Economics

Activities and Societies: UT Marathon Club● Completed a labor term paper titled “The Rising Earnings Inequality at the Upper Tail of the.

Bachelor Of Arts, Economics

Activities and Societies: Varsity Cross Country and Track● Magna cum Laude ● French minor ● NCAA Division I Cross Country and Track.