# Introduction This lab demonstrates that Machine Learning models are great for measuring statistical associations but are unable to infer causal effects without making strong assumptions about the data. We will simulate a situation in which we try to answer one of the most important questions in economics of education: what is the causal effect of earning a college degree on hourly wages? Although the answer to this question is crucial to policy makers, Omitted-Variable Biases prevent us from identifying that causal effect. ## VM Tips After the VM startup is done, click the top left corner to switch to the **Notebook** tab to access Jupyter Notebook for practice. Sometimes, you may need to wait a few seconds for Jupyter Notebook to finish loading. The validation of operations cannot be automated because of limitations in Jupyter Notebook. If you face issues during learning, feel free to ask Labby. Provide feedback after the session, and we will promptly resolve the problem for you.
Click the virtual machine below to start practicing