Friday, October 8, 2010

Thoughts on Research and Career Directions

I'm starting to talk to other people about my research ideas so I can make them better, but I'm also trying to continually evaluate my career options. I am most drawn to macro, dynamic modeling, and theory, but I'm wondering if I should really be doing more applied economics since I'm ultimately interested in developing policy for the real world. Perhaps I should really be looking into public and labor economics more, and researching cross-impacts of environmental economics and labor economics through data-driven analysis.

At the same time, I'm not sure if I should be going into economics at all. I'm not sure that I have the right kind of instincts for analysis, and perhaps I should go into public policy after all. I should try to look at what kind of research is done in public policy or consider not doing research at all, and trying to figure out how to someone who helps implement policies. I think maybe I'm good at crisis management and figuring out what people need and getting them things.

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