Economics - Master's before Ph.D.?

<p>I'm currently an undergraduate student at a top 50 state school studying economics with a concurrent major in math. I will likely be writing an honors thesis in economics in my senior year, and I would like to go to graduate school in economics to hopefully attain a Ph.D. The honors college here offers an undergraduate master's degree (by this I mean a master's degree available to undergraduates, I would still be taking graduate courses) which I could attain in five years. So would it be worthwhile to take the five year master's in economics from my school in order to increase my graduate school prospects, or would it be just as good to start searching for Ph.D. with just the BS in econ and math (which would take four years)?</p>

<p>The masters degree by itself won’t help your prospects. But if that extra year allows you to take some more graduate level econ courses and other math courses, it might be helpful.</p>