For decades, a doctorate in economics was a golden ticket. It promised a path to tenure, or at worst, a lucrative role at a central bank, think tank, or tech firm.
Not anymore.
The economics job market is in freefall, and the profession’s own data proves it.
Unlike most fields, economics has a bizarrely centralized hiring ritual. Once a year, in the fall, every employer posts openings at the same time. Every candidate applies at the same time. The entire profession runs through one clearinghouse: the American Economic Association’s “Job Openings for Economists” (JOE). This makes economics PhD market uniquely measurable, and the numbers are brutal.