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.
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