Would you be an economist again? Where would you do undergrad (and grad if applicable)?
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Economists, if you could start all over again what would you do?
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It's easier to answer the "would I be an economist again" than the others. But yes, I would always choose this life. I needed a PhD in economics to do the sort of research I find meaningful. I got the PhD and I'm doing exactly what I want.Would you be an economist again? Where would you do undergrad (and grad if applicable)?
thanksAs for undergraduate and graduate school. That's harder to answer. The counterfactual for changing one of those may ultimately cause me not to have matched well with an adviser, had so many people invest in me and spend time with me, done well on the market, gotten a job, found research topics I enjoyed, etc. Even if I had said I would do something differently to make sure I got into a better program, like get an A+ in real analysis, I might not have done well in a better grad program and ultimately not done well.
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LAC Prof Here: I only earn $85000/9 mth. I make an extra 15-20,000 each year doing consulting/fees/etc. I have enough money to enjoy life with my family (wife works for less). I am happy...very much so. I would do it all over again just for the intellectual stimulation of economics.
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Why does economists speak in such clipped economizing ways? Are you being charged by the word? And why do you select such cheap obscurantist words when you could communicate with precise expressive words? At the bland extreme, there's "unique" and at the solipsistic extreme, there's "grok." The language obscures even as it purports to reveal, sets up false hierarchies (communication failure isn't just the fault of the reader or the author but a collaborative failure). And why do you have public conversations about personal things and solipsistic conversations about public things?