Stanford Economist Piazzesi Influences Fed Forecasts

Monika Piazzesi found inspiration for her career at France’s top statistics school in a math class that initially was too hard for her.

A Bonn University economics major on an exchange program in Paris, she audited a course taught by math legend Nicole El Karoui and was captivated by the concept of asset pricing. The experience at the Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Economique, or Ensae, became a key turning point for Piazzesi, now a Stanford University economics professor whose research helps inform Federal Reserve forecasting models.