PhD in Economics

Miscellaneous General
1

Since grad school application time is upon us, I want to take a moment to implore fellow Austrian students to consider a PhD in economics. Our strategy for spreading Austrian economics will always require having sympathetic PhDs on our side. It pains me to see so many Austrians reject the PhD outright because of the hostility they will face in academia and the necessity of having to learn material they know to be false.

I am in a program that is not Austrian but that is very pro-freedom and have found that this is an acceptable substitute. I have had to learn some things I didn’t like, such as some econometrics, but overall I have been able to direct my study toward useful topics, and I have learned a lot about how to properly think like an economist, here at Clemson, one of the 7 top pro free market programs as determined by Peter Boettke:

http://www.superscholar.org/rankings/economics/top-austrian-free-market-programs/

It is also listed in Walter Block’s list of grad schools for Austrians. It is an extremely pro-freedom department. The top monetary theorist openly calls Keynesian economics the dark side. It is common for the professors to take jabs at government in class. We have read Coase, Hayek, Alchian, Friedman, Stigler, etc and I have gained from reading the non-Austrians.

You will have to know calculus and statistics and for many this makes an econ PhD too costly, and for others defeats the purpose of a PhD if you have to pretend econ is an empirical science, but you can always focus on applying these skills toward practical applications in the workforce after graduation without deluding yourself into believing we can empirically derive laws of human action.

I can’t imagine trying to earn a PhD in a place hostile to freedom. Here I can be as openly pro freedom as I want. The entire campus is generally conservative which I prefer greatly to liberals, it is mostly white middle and upper middle class, preppy, frat, and jock crowd. Crime is extremely low and the ratio of attractive women is higher on this campus than any other I’ve seen. So if you are thinking about getting a PhD in econ you should consider Clemson.

2

I don’t get it. You expect people to spend at the very least years of their lives, and possibly tens of thousands of dollars, for the privilege of mathematizing government regulation in what you admit is a hostile environment…so that they might utlize their high-level math skills in some real-world sector job that has nothing to do with economic modeling?

Virtually any job that would require that level of math would require a degree specific in that work field…which would mean, if someone were going to spend all that time, money and effort, they may as well get the degree that actually applies to what they’ll be doing. The only reason I see for an Austrian suffering through a PhD program is to acquire a teaching post that they might then have the opportunity to educate others in the Austrian tradition. I don’t see a huge demand in government for free-market economists, and I see even less demand for economists outside of government.

3

Most likely anyone who would do that would be after a teaching post as you say. I am an outlier, I want a private sector job and want to write about economics on the side. I wouldn’t recommend anyone go to a school without a lot of pro-freedom professors, the hostility you’d otherwise face wouldn’t be worth it.

If you can’t get funding it doesn’t make financial sense to attend. Almost no one I know pays a penny out of pocket.