If the past is any indicator, hundreds of college seniors and recent graduates are finalizing their applications for admission into a PhD program in economics. The elite of the elite are applying to Harvard, Chicago, Princeton, MIT and Stanford. But make no mistake about it, to get into a quality program and receive a competitive fellowship you will need to have a track record of academic performance which puts you in the elite of college students on the standard measures such as GPA and GRE scores.
But what you want to study is also an important factor in program choice. If you want to study comparative political economy, for example, not every PhD program in economics offers that possibility. If you want to study history of economic thought, the situation is even worse. There is obviously Duke, but GMU happens to be quite strong in that field as well. There are other schools, but not many in the US. In fact, many students that want to pursue history of economic thought earn their degrees in history departments or history of science programs nowadays rather than traditional economics departments. I have mixed opinions on this development and strong opinions on the lack of opportunities for historians of economic thought in our profession. Nevertheless, it is what it is.
However, there are some alternatives at heterodox programs in the US -- New School and UMKC, e.g. -- and there are opportunities over in Europe -- e.g., economic history department at LSE. Yesterday I got an announcement from Andy Denis that there are student fellowships for PhD students at City University London. As Andy points out: "The applicant will need to be interested in completing a thesis in the area of the history and/or the philosophy of economics, and will have some overlap with my areas of interest the methodology of orthodox and heterodox schools of thought in economics, social ontology, reductionism and holism. I have published on Smith, Malthus, Keynes, Hayek, rhetorical strategies in economics, and the methodology of the Austrian and neoclassical schools, and am currently working on a century of methodological individualism."
I recently recommended Paul Lewis at Kings College London as another point of contact in the UK to work with for PhD for students interested in Austrian economics and the history of economic thought and methodology. Now Andy makes this announcement as well.
Please add other opportunities for students that you know of for students interested in the history of economic thought and methodology, and provide information on placement record of these programs in the comments.
Comments