International economics job market?

Question

I'm entering a grad program for international economics. Does anyone know what the job market is like in this field?

One of my hopes is to live abroad in a place like Switzerland, I know the UN is there as well as other international organizations. If anyone is in this field, can you give a little bit of insight?

I'm going to the unversity of denver in the fall and know its one of the top ten international relations grad schools in the nation. Does learning Mandarin to do business in China sound wise?

Answer 1

I think that economics is a great field. Recently though with all of the US/world financial trouble some people tell me that economics is a waste of time because western economists didn't predict the mortgage crisis...blah blah blah

IMO economics is still a strong field. just because there have been some market failures doesn't mean that companies, governments, and international organizations are not going to use economics and economists. Do you read the Economist magazine? All throughout the magazine there are adds from international organizations, universities, governments, and businesses that are looking for economists. Making me think that the market is there (though they seem to always want lots of experience)

I am learning Chinese (mandarin) but I think that any language will be useful (wise). Portuguese (brazil), Chinese, Japanese, Russian, French, Spanish, Arabic, Vietnamese (Vietnam seems to be doing great these days), whatever they speak in India: any language will make you more marketable and help broaden your horizons. So yes it would be wise to be bilingual

The best advice i can think to give you is to make good contacts, if you want to work in Europe make friends with Europeans. If you want to work in china make friends in china. Even though I am an undergrad I cant thank enough the people and organizations that have already introduced me and sort of thrust me into conversations and meetings with lots of different people

good luck in denver! ^.^

just be sure to have fun and be enthusiastic in whatever u do