<p>Bear in mind economics can, sadly, be an ideologically-driven discipline, with some professors more interested in creating a rationale for their policy views than in teaching positive economics (positive in this sense means objective). I would go to GMU or University of Chicago. I would not go to an elitist east coast school for economics.</p>
<p>I’m getting to where I’m losing lots of respect for the so-called saltwater school economists, even ones I used to respect (like Larry Summers). Any economist who can say with a straight face that the financial sector, or the economy as a whole, has been unregulated or laissez-faire for the past thirty years and wants to blame our recession on this myth of a libertarian revolution during the 80’s is just a hack who ignores the facts.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to spark a policy debate, but the University of Chicago economics department was widely known as a conservative ideological hotbed in the mid-to-late 20th century. I don’t really understand why you would use it as an example of an impartial university. However, I do agree with your premise that most (east-coast) departments are biased. A economics major will likely encounter a variety of viewpoints in college, and they should do their best to form their own opinions after learning multiple viewpoints. </p>
<p>To me, much of economics is political ideology with some math thrown in. And that’s why I love it.</p>
<p>My first job with an undergrad in economics was $6.92 an hour at Chase Bank. I was a teller. Three months later I I worked as a stock broker for Fidelity Investments for $12.00 an hour. A friend of mine with a bachelors in economics from the same university fixes fitness equipment at 24 hour fitness for $15.00 an hour. While I love economics, it is a terrible major unless you are into the Ivy League and are willing to go for the PhD. In the state of Utah, there were approximately 5k graduates from BYU and University of Utah with approximately three real economist job openings. </p>
<p>It might sound cool to be a stock broker, but I started with a garbage man and a guy who was tired of driving truck; both had no college. Being on the phone 24/7 is not exactly fun. The turnover is high and a promotion is usually not about higher pay, but less phone time. You don’t get to recommend stocks or analyze anything. It’s all about selling yourself; not really economics. </p>
<p>When I graduated in economics, one of the best jobs was to work at the World Bank. Back then, there were 7,000 applicants for every 200 positions. The job requirement stated that the average person hired has a PhD from the Ivy League and 20 years of experience. </p>
<p>Alan Greenspan was making about 180k per year as chairman of the Fed. Now, that sounds pretty good, but consider that my brother-in-law was making about 80k right out of school with an electrical engineering degree and some of his friends were making over 300k per year in non-supervisory roles. </p>
<p>Finally, becoming an economist for money is a stupid idea. You have to love what you do. Also, if the job market is so competitive, than most people won’t be doing it anyway. You might be selling insurance or something related. That’s not exactly what most economics majors have in mind. </p>
<p>Get the Ivy League PhD in economics. If you can’t do that, get an engineering or accounting degree from a regular state school. If that is too difficult, become a plumber and call it good. </p>
<p>Time and time again I’ve heard (and read) that an Econ major is not necessary to land a finance interview. Recently, however, I’ve been hearing more and more that an Econ major is becoming increasingly necessary because of the HIGH COMPETITION in recent years (we’re talking within the last five). People are saying that while the Econ major was not necessary in the early or even mid- 2000s and earlier, it is NOW because so many top tier, high GPA students are rushing into finance. </p>
<p>What’s your take on this? Would non-Econ majors who are interested in finance be able to make up for it with business extracurriculars and/or courses? </p>
<p>Keep in mind that we’re talking about top-10/IVY schools whose closest thing to a business/finance major is Economics. </p>
I just thought i’d update the OP’s information because it seems like most of his sources are outdated (mostly from 2008-2009) which may mislead anyone interested in the “facts and statistics” of economics.
NOTE: Only including business-related and economics facts/statistics due to trying to keep this as focused as possible and it seems like that’s the general consensus of what most people are interested in.
I. Job Prospects
“Ranked by median starting pay, median mid-career pay (at least 10 years in), growth in salary and wealth of job opportunities, engineering and math reigned supreme.” (Forbes, [The 15 Most Valuable College Majors](The 15 Most Valuable College Majors))
Economics didn’t even make their list. Furthermore, only three business majors made the list;
Management Information Systems (#8)
Construction Management (#12)
Finance (#13)
The rest were science, math, and engineer majors.
What college major makes someone the most employable? (2013/2014)
Business: 26%/27%
Accounting: 14%/14%
Marketing: 3%/6%
Finance: 3%/Less than 1%
(CNBC & Express Employment Professionals, [These college majors will get you a job …](http://www.cnbc.com/id/102074384))
“Those with a four-year undergrad degree in advertising and marketing, for example, get the biggest bang for the buck, according to a study by Bankrate.com. Grads in this field pay off their student debt in an average of six years (with 10% of their salary going toward repaying student loans) and earn a median income of more than $107,950 post-graduation.”
“Bankrate ranked degrees by the amount of schooling required, debt graduates accumulate, earnings post-graduation and years it takes to pay off student loans. Other degrees that offer a great return on investment included economists, civil engineers, political scientists and pharmacists.”
(CNN, [College degrees with the best bang for your buck](College degrees with the best payoffs))
Top 20 Highest Paying Graduate Degree: (Early Career/Mid Career Salary) #5 MBA in Strategy: ($92,200/$145,000) #7 MBA in General & Strategic Management: ($81,800/$140,700) #11 MBA in Entrepreneurship: ($68,100/$138,300) #13 MBA in Marketing Management: ($63,000/$135,300) #15 MBA in Economics: ($71,400/$131,800) #19 Ph.D in Economics: ($95,900/$127,900) #20 MBA in Finance: ($68,300/$126,800)
(Payscale, [Highest Paying Graduate Degrees)](http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/majors-that-pay-you-back/graduate-degrees)
Top 20 Highest Paying Bachelor’s Degree: (Early Career/Mid Career Salary)
18 Business & Information Technology: ($56,900/$99,100)
Had trouble finding an updated/similar version of this because the link to “Goldin and Katz analysis of Harvard graduates” that the blog cites is no longer available but after further investigation I found that the same author states that,
“The most lucrative college major is economics, which has an earnings premium of 0.33 log points and a premium of 0.19 including occupation controls. No surprise there. Harvard’s economics undergraduate is (or was) a pipeline to investment banking. Particularly in recent years:”
“The highest earnings by occupation are garnered by those in finance, for which the earnings premium relative to all other occupations is an astounding 1.08 log points, or 195 percent.”
“Median annual earnings of economists were $64,830 in 2000. The middle 50 percent earned between $47,370 and $87,890. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $35,690, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $114,580” (CSUSM,[Economics as a Major](Major Information | Economics | CSUSM))
Couldn’t find the information on their websites and the links no longer work so I decided to find another notable university (Berkeley).
Statistics of Last Year’s Graduating Undergraduate Class:
(Major Name: Starting Salary|Employed %|In Grad School %|Unemployed %|Other %)
Economics: $60,990 | 55% | 13% | 24% | 8%
Business Administration: $64,572 | 81% | 5% | 10% | 4%
(Berkeley,[Economics Major Statistics](https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Econ.stm))
(Berkeley,[Business Administration Major Statistics](https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/BusAd.stm))
Couldn’t find this article anywhere and the link goes to Shippensburg University page with no relevant information but according to the Wall Street Journal,[And The Highest-Paid College Majors Are…](http://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2013/04/29/and-the-highest-paid-college-majors-are/)
Here’s the list of top 10 majors, with starting salaries: #8 Management Information Systems/Business: $63,100 #10 Finance: $57,400
Can’t find anywhere on the website the information that the OP was able to find nor was I able to find any relevant information.
Based on the updated statistics and facts, it seems like economics just isn’t as great as a major as it once was. Nonetheless, it’s still a very profitable and employable field, if you find an interest in it, then there is definitely opportunity to be taken but if you’re just in it for the money and job security, then there are better choices. In today’s society, is economics superior to every other business major (bus admin, marketing, etc) well according to these sources it isn’t for the most part. I disproved some of OP’s sources and updated others but OP is still correct about econ paying and paying well.
III. Respect
IV. Graduate School
V. Versatility
VI. Social Benefit
VII. Personal Benefit