After finishing high school many students think of applying for university and getting at least a Bachelor’s degree. After 3 to 5 years of studying some choose to take their first degree and join the job market, while others decide to continue in university to complete a Masters Degree or even a PhD through additional academic and/or applied research. If you are thinking about taking this final step and doing your PhD, but you are still not sure whether it is right for you, check out the links below to see what you can expect from a PhD program.

1) General ideas about doing a PhD and your prospects after graduation in “Considering Graduate School in Economics?” by Bill Craighead, Wesleyan University. Read more

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A PhD was something I always dreamed of doing. On the one hand, it was a natural continuation of my, it now seems, life-long learning curve after my Master’s degree. But, more importantly, it was also a faraway dream on the horizon that seemed worth pursuing just for its own sake. I probably knew my love of research should last me the entire doctoral spell but no one will ever be able to fully explain to you what it is like to undertake a PhD until you have finally let yourself fall into its subtle embrace.

I say ‘subtle’ because you definitely cannot escape feeling excited about your new occupation as a doctoral student, however you should not let the initial excitement get in the way of the hard work ahead as it is sometimes too easy to do so. PhD can also be a pretty overwhelming experience, with its ups and downs along the way, so new PhD students are well advised to take into account some key considerations when starting off. These are based solely on my own experience but I have found they are not uncommon for other PhD students and some really good books on PhD study refer to them as well. Read more

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A PhD can be a very expensive endeavor regardless of your background. There are many opportunities to finance your PhD and they are all worth considering prior to committing to a specific program. Remember that there are options, and that ultimately most graduate programs will view you as an asset based on what you can give back to the program through research, assisting other professors, or even obtaining grants, so although you’re competing to get into their programs, they should also be “competing” to offer you the most options for financing. 

Finance Option #1: Assistantships, Teaching and Research

Most major universities offer teaching or research assistantships. Teaching assistants will typically be placed with a professor to assist with one or more courses. This could include grading, tutoring students, helping to organize assignments, and even leading lectures. Assistantships provide tuition remission in addition to stipends and are a great way to get a taste for working as a professor. Read more

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With the application deadlines for PhD and Master’s courses in Europe approaching, we decided to post a list of Top 10 European Economics Departments to support your decision when choosing the right institution. As all university rankings have their flaws and there is an obvious shortage of rankings for specific disciplines, we combined two ranking systems in one table: RePEc, Top 25% Economics Departments (February 2013) and QS World University Rankings by Subject (2012). Read more

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With ice on the ground and a chill in the air (at least for those living in northern climes), it is nice to think about the summer and all of the welcome things it brings: warmth, flowers, and, of course, new career and training opportunities.

Last year we published a list of the Top 10 Economics Summer Schools, many of which are running again this year. See the bottom of this post for links to them.

Accordingly, here is our 2013 list of interesting economics summer schools taking place this year, giving you and your colleagues the opportunity to broaden your horizons in many sub disciplines of economics. This is not an exhaustive list, and a regularly updated list of summer schools looking for participants, and their deadlines, can be found here.

Courses are listed by start date and many of them have approaching deadlines. Read more

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Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of becoming an engineer. From playing with LEGO to being an active member of my high-school robotics team, I loved building things and breaking them down to learn how they worked. This being said, I have kept an open mind about a position in management down the road and from this perspective it was important to me to prepare for a career in both business AND engineering. My answer: a dual degree program whereby I completed a BA in economics alongside a BSc in Mechanical Engineering.

I was advised that economics was the most applicable choice for starting to understand certain concepts within business. Read more

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When I was about to receive my Bachelor diploma, my mind was puzzled. I knew where I wanted to work, but I didn’t know how to get there with a Degree in Law. I also knew that I needed to steer my professional training towards economics, but I didn’t know how. The problem was that I just didn’t have enough credits in any economics-related disciplines to meet the requirements of the majority of study programs available. After having weighed all the options, I made up my mind to apply for an MA in Public Policy and to try to focus on economics-related disciplines.

Public Policy classes are famous for Read more

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Of all available internet resources in economics, podcasts often remain the most overlooked. Yet it’s a great way not only to enrich your knowledge, but also to look at an already familiar matter from a different perspective. Normally, podcasts are issued in the style of lectures, talks, interviews or just short commentaries, and cover either current economic issues or pure academic topics.

Previously we published a list of free online courses from renowned universities that have both open-access lectures and podcasts of public events (like LSE). Below you will find a list of economics podcasts, some of which were mentioned by Tim Harold in his blog last year.

The featured resources are mostly produced by think tanks, research institutes, economics bloggers or media. They represent different schools of economic thought and vary in length and style.  Read more

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Prior to 2008 much of the profession was triumphant in its success in achieving economic stability. The period leading up to 2008 was known as the great moderation, characterised by low inflation, strong growth and low unemployment. This period has been followed by the most significant economic event since the great depression. This event has seen increasing doubt over the old consensus and the reincarnation of Keynesian economics.

Just as the era of stagflation in the 1970s saw the decline of Keynesian economics, the current crisis has challenged many of the neoclassical assumptions taught in introductory courses. The current syllabus introduces students to the concept of supply and demand, the role of government, the benefits of trade, the contrast between perfect competition and monopolies as well as basic macroeconomics.

Critics of this approach come from all sides, with Austrian economists complaining it encourages students to view the economy as a machine while other claim it is indoctrinating students with a right wing neoclassical philosophy that relies on simplistic assumptions such as downward sloping demand curves while ignoring economic inequity, as was claimed by those students involved in the occupy Harvard movement.

It could be argued that it is not the syllabus that is the problem, but rather the context in which it is taught. Often, the ideas taught to first year economics students belong to competing ideologies and without exposure to economic history this is often lost. Recently, there has been much debate on the place of economic history in academic programs. Read more

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