That was me being big headed and egotistical, I apologise for that even though I cannot make up for it.
I’ve not got a problem with the level of mathematics, it’s more to do with the conceptual understanding in the use of it.
International economics perhaps. BTW, I never said the Austrians are inconsistent or inferior, I just think there is room for a lot of development of the doctrine, and doing so will only further their case.
And I am delighted that they are becoming more popular, indeed in a small way the fact we are spending time arguing about it is evidence of this progress, when perhpas a few years ago none of us would even vaguely have been aware of it.
Thinking of Grad School?
(Where to study Austrian Economics…be sure to read the comments)
How to Succeed in Graduate School
Inspiring message for Grad Students
Pursuing a Vocation in Austrian Economics
MISEScreants: An Ongoing Narrative of Graduate School by Two Austrians
International economics perhaps. BTW, I never said the Austrians are inconsistent or inferior, I just think there is room for a lot of development of the doctrine, and doing so will only further their case.
Auction theory.
I’m not familiar with Austrian economics “failing” at any certain topic. Certainly not in the way Keynesianism fails to explain just about everything it tries. Certainly there are topics that other schools of thought have had more progress in developing sound theories on…Bob Murphy stated he personally learned more about international trade from the work of Arthur Laffer than he has from the Austrians. But that by no means implies the Austrian approach “fails” when it comes to that topic. There are plenty of areas that there really isn’t an “Austrian” theory to speak of.
How difficult would an economics graduate program be compared to my undergrad math and physics courses? Of course, this will depend on the university to some extent.
I’m not techincally on a graduate course yet, the graduate diploma I’m on leads on to a 1 year masters at a UK university by the end of this academic year. My anticipation based on my experience so far is that the level, especially at the masters might not be too big a jump for someone from a physics/mathematics undergrad program, though there is a difference in emphasis. A lot more emphasis (perhaps predictably) on partial differential optimisation with Lagrange Multipliers to n dimensions, a lot more detailed statistics than I ever found in physics (again with a somewhat different emphasis) and not very much complex analysis(though that is used to solve some ODEs I think, and much more in finance however). Being comfortable with Linear Alebra will probably help quite a bit too.
I’m sure those better qualified than me might be able to correct me/give more details.
Is that for a master’s or doctorate program? I don’t plan on a Ph.D any time soon.
That (and other things like game theory), is what I estimate for a UK Masters, which is roughly equivalent to the first 1 or 2 years of a US Phd.
Okay. I’ve decided if I go the economics route it will be at GMU. I hope my background would be enough to be accepted.
Any ideas on getting funding?
Peter Boettke and Joe Salerno have gone back and forth about this quite a bit. I would actually email both of them with some specific questions and see what advice they might give you.
(Coincidentally, Boettke just wrote a blog entry “Advice to Undergraduates” just yesterday.)
What is the best economics graduate program in Texas? That would be the most affordable route for me since I live in Texas. I guess the question should be what is the least Keynesian program. -_-
Where are you, West or East Texas??? I go to the the University of Texas-Dallas and most people there are Keynesians and Public Choice but most of my professors are willing to hear my critiques on what they say… But nevertheless, most here have worked in public policy and one was even an econ advisor to George Bush Sr. when he was in office.
BUT, there is one Austrian economist here in dallas but he is at the University of Dallas ( a catholic school) ,Samuel Bostaph, the head of the Econ Dept. But the bad news is,is that he is retiring soon.
that is all i know but if I were you i would not be concerned about which program is less keynesian or les neoclassical…that is just a waste of time because you will encounter some keynesian or neoclassical professor in most schools. i find it very helpful learning Keynesian theory in school and learning Austrian theory because the more youb learn the better. and one can critique keynesian econ a little better if you know about the subject.
that said, though, a general way to know what type of econ a school teaches is this : If you are looking at getting into Public school., chances are that most are going to be Keynesian with a stereotypical textbook econ approach. a Private school is most likely going to be a little more free market.
I’m in Houston. Private schools are going to be more expensive, at least as much as out-of-state tuition somewhere else. My first choice would be GMU, but that’ll cost at least $30K.
I don’t know anything about the graduate program, but my brother has actually been introduced to at least some Austrian theory as an undergrad at the University of Texas -Austin. This guy is definitely not Austrian, but from what I can tell he’s more so than a lot of econ professors…his name is Lew Spellman. His blog is found at TheSpellmanReport.com
I was actually pleasantly surprised to hear some of what he’s been teaching and that some of the content from some Mises Dailies is familiar to my brother from what he’s learned in class…especially since a Galbraith also teaches there.
But to really answer your question, I think Boettke’s advice on that one is the best:
Bottom line — go to the best school you can get into that will pay your full way. Getting into a top school where you pay your own way will not pan out (it is like being a walk on at a major college for sports — sometimes it works, but it is rare. Absent that, think about law school rather than economics. If you still need to get a PhD in economics, got to the school that will pay you that you are more comfortable with and then once there work hard — you can overachieve (e.g., John List is a great example of an overachiever in the field of experimental economics).
Having a school pay my own way is very unlikely. I am not going for a Ph.D.
The UT-Austin program disgusts me. Look at their Marxian classes.
Is Texas Tech any good?
I don’t know about “any good”, but it’s certainly not among the top 30 names I think anyone would come up with. And I’ve never heard anyone say anything good or enjoyable about Lubbock.
Oh, that bad. Well, I hope I’m making sense. I want to go to a free market or Austrian program, but it will just cost too much. I go to the University of Houston. It’s a decent school, probably #4 in Texas. It certainly has a Keynesian focus, though.
I hear you, but the truth of the matter is that’s par for the course. Honestly options are extremely limited to begin with, and if you’re limited even further due to financial constraints, there really isn’t much we can tell you.
Tell me though, why are you so concerned with this? What is your goal here? Why are you going to graduate school?