Truck and Barter: Saying Goodbye to RAND

June 22, 2004

Saying Goodbye to RAND

By Kevin

Regular readers know that I am overemployed--as a full-time worker, research assistant, dissertation writer, husband, father, and blogger.

Yesterday, I notified RAND that I will be leaving effective July 2 in order to nail down my Ph.D. dissertation. (I will not be selling bagels--search the text for "bagel").

I leave RAND now so that I will have the ambition, opportunity, and energy to attack my thesis from all sides with an obsessive but focused abandon. Finances will be tight, but manageable.

For those new to T&B, I'm leaving a secure, well-paying job at a top-notch policy think-tank in order to write a book that in all likelihood no more than a dozen people will read voluntarily. Yet everyone I've spoken to supports my decision; others find depressing the prospect of room 8307 being quiet, dark, and empty.

I hope to write my dissertation over the next few months. During that time I forecast my T&B posting to be more frequent.

How does all this relate to economics? Note that in the short run, I will not be joining the ranks of the unemployed; I will, in effect, leave the labor force entirely. While I spend my days writing and researching, the BLS will consider me as having been hit by a truck...

In a few months, I will be seeking a position as a nonacademic economist. Note that I'm willing to move anywhere in the U.S. where 1) the summer heat is not unbearable, and 2) excellent schools are available. Hint. Hint.

Posted at June 22, 2004 09:30 AM

Comments

Sounds like a good decision. Best of luck on your dissertation.

On the way out, check to see if they could use a moderately skilled, highly motivated master's student with plans to return for the phd in a few years time.

Kidding.

Sort of.

Comment by Ian at June 22, 2004 06:30 PM | Permalink