What divisions/jobs at the board are more research oriented vs. policy oriented?
Fed vs. University
-
It all depends on your goal.
If you are smart, can deal with some politics, and want to become a top policy figure in your country, you have all the tools and resources at the FRB to live that life.
It's actually pretty straightforward too, and I'm surprised people don't go this route more often. At the FRB, you can do your research in your first 5-6 years as you would in an AP job (policy work is actually quite low initially) without any stress about tenure.
Then, you can decide your future steps. Do you want to remain a principal economist for life or do you want to transition into a more policy-oriented role? Many choose the latter route, and have very interesting and rewarding careers. Many choose the former and are happy as well, although the policy work increases from year 4 or 5 onward, so you may not get as much time for research.
Such options don't really exist in academia, unless you are tenured professor at Harvard or Berkeley. But a top policy role at the BOG is pretty much available to any rookie at the Board, provided he or she is (1) interested, and (2) has the requisite skill set, including communication skills, interest in policy work, and being a team player.
From my perspective, the Fed is the ideal job. I probably only would have taken a T10 academic position over it and it's still not clear to me if the tenure stress is really worth the hassle, since my long-term goal was to transition to a top policy institution in a leading role anyway.
-
You only ever hear from people who like it at the FRB, no verifiable insiders who don’t (I am at another treasury org who shares in the wonderful TSP). I’m not sure what that says- my opinion is that the vast majority of economists there like it, but the people who don’t like it might have good reasons.
-
What is the average starting salary for an economist?
Fed rookies make 200k + great benefits. Academia rookies more like 120-140k in Econ departments.
A bit of an exaggeration but close to reality
lot of discrepancy actually. the other day someone said its 165k BEFORE any deductions.
-
You can look it up online
What is the average starting salary for an economist?
Fed rookies make 200k + great benefits. Academia rookies more like 120-140k in Econ departments.
A bit of an exaggeration but close to reality
lot of discrepancy actually. the other day someone said its 165k BEFORE any deductions.
-
The modal number is about 170 all in, it’s a little higher for new hires, and I know from someone in the market last year that it’s closer to 200k for finance offers (through bonus engineering more or less).
sorry what's a finance offer? so if you have a finance phd or if your research is in finance? or is that section specific?
-
I’d have to ask him what section he interviewed for. His PhD was in finance, he was on the finance market. They also hired someone from the finance market for one of their sections. I imagine the offer is more about being competitive with other finance offers.
The following is speculation- you don’t have a ton of control over what band someone places in in the federal government and most economists at most treasury organizations get hired right at the top of the band (so you get a big raise your second year). The only way to make someone a competitive offer if the top of the band is around 149-165 (FR25 is 154,300- which doesn’t include locality or anything) that requires a handshake agreement on a large bonus.The modal number is about 170 all in, it’s a little higher for new hires, and I know from someone in the market last year that it’s closer to 200k for finance offers (through bonus engineering more or less).
sorry what's a finance offer? so if you have a finance phd or if your research is in finance? or is that section specific?
-
How does policy upside vary between board and regionals?
Regionals are VERY heterogeneous in terms of policy work, with some giving out very little policy (Minneapolis, St Louis) and others featuring heavier loads (NY). On average more policy at the board than at the regional feds. But echoing what the other poster said, the Board is probably a better jumping ground for top policy positions elsewhere if that is your ultimate goal.