Hot Cuppa

I am lost too, alot more than you! :)

Dear Hamed:
You need to answer a number of questions before tackling this one. What do you want to do when you finish? Do you wish to return to Iran or plan to stay over? If you wish to return to Iran, do you prefer an academic post, or you like to do other things{ broadly defined]? If you wish to stay, the same question. Now, depending upon you answers to these questions, if you wish to return to Iran, I think, focus on applied economics, with a sound theoretical background. You know better than I do, that the level of economic debate at home is so low, that complicated theoretical contraoversies would be lost totally. You may be surprised to hear me say this, but, one of our difficulties is to convince others that we need to define and devise a legal framework for the protection of private property, or the law of contract etc. We need to argue that " rent seeking" behaviour is poverty enhancing and bad for the majority of the people.We need to convince our" decision makers" that there is something called " division of labour", hence, let our legislators come up with a legal framework. Stop pre-empting their efforts in your sermons![ but only a few listens, if they do at all]. To be fair, this lack of belief in division of labour cuts through all social strata. On the otherhand, if you wish to stay and wish an academic career, go for mathematical economics. You know perhaps how much I hate Maths, but, if you are not good in Maths, and go for an academic career, you would be mainly pissing in the wind.
Whatever you do, all the best
Regards
Iraj

Hamed,

You can not be rational and so pre-planned. Have an idea of what you want to do. But choose the subject that makes you happy NOW, for get about the long term future.

try to be what you always wanted to be. try to be the man your dreams

SALAAM agha hamed,

I want to take advantage of this topic and ask a different yet related question if I may. As a PhD student and an industrial engineer I hopefully will learn how to change the systems to optimize some objectives. However, I need to learn to choose effective objectives and formulate the system cleverly for the optimization to be meaningful. For that I need to learn economy and I am not clear about the areas/courses that help the most. I want to return to Iran after my study and wish to affect the industrial/social systems back home not only by theoretical research. I am in a good school with a strong Economy department but I do not know if getting a second masters in Economy is necessary or just a couple of courses along with aside readings would be enough. What is your advice?

felled -> fell
immediate valuable -> immediately valuable

Dear Hamed

Good question but difficult to answer and the answer depends very much on what you are gonna do later. Here is my comment if you want to be in academics outside Iran:

1- The profession and its institutions don't value the extent you know, it values expertise. You are at some stage required to publish new stuff in top journals (other things don't matter much). This needs knowledge at some areas on its frontier. so you have to choose some areas to expertise.

2- which area to expertise? It should be an important and a fertile one. you can look and see what the current hot research topics are and which are expected to help address important unsolved questions . It must also be something that fasciantes you and you like doing it. Also see what your comparative advantages are (are you very good in math? or. ...).

3- Considering that your previous studies has not been in economics, you should first try to master the necessary tools (math, econometrics, game theory, ..) then think about a good topics for dissertation. There will be time later for other things that you like.

4- Having said the above, economics is a broad and diverse science, people are doing different kind of economics (even within the mainstream) and there is not a unique way of success. Consider people like North, Krugman, Stiglitz, Friedman, Lucas, Debrue, Becker, Levitt,... each one of these guys has made a name in his own unique way. You may find your own too.

Good Luck

Hi.how are u and maryam?
my new messengar id is sed_amna
please add it instead of
mr_ambrambo.ya hagh

Salaam Hamed,
Take a look at:
Roth, Alvin E., "The Economist as Engineer: Game Theory, Experimentation, and Computation as Tools for Design Economics," Fisher-Schultz Lecture, Econometrica, 70,4, July 2002, 1341-1378.
This may fit your taste from both sides of theory and practice the best.

Hamed,
Have you thought that in a way the topic chooses you? That’s because environment conditions and path dependence matter. Meaning that by now you are already in a track. Besides this, my personal advice is to:
1) Think about what you would like to do in future and define your strategy according to it. Make a decision tree (path A, path B,... expected costs and benefits of each situation). It helps a lot!
2) Either go for model A: niche of market or model B: diversified research portfolio. I believe option B (with two-three topics) involves fewer risks, more chances to get a job and it’s more interesting. Ask research questions to yourself and show them to your thesis advisor.
3) When you talk with your advisor don’t be fooled by his words. Remember public choice theory: each player acts in a self-interested way to optimize it’s own returns. And be aware that it’s a dynamic game with asymmetric information!
4) Pick up thesis topics for which you are 100% fascinated. Completing a thesis is a hard and long learning process. You need to locate yourself at a very high point of your self-interest curve so at the middle of the process, when you are about to quit, your level of interest is still high enough to go ahead.
The whole process it’s like the Paris-Dakar race. There are many unexpected personal and professional disturbances that you will face along the way. Finally, we will not be able to know which part its explained by our own preferences and which part its explained by environment influence. In any case, the moral of the story is not to worry so much, work hard and have fun with what you do!
Andrea