And, as always, Matt Kahn makes a timely suggestion:
In the past, I've done some writing on social capital and civic engagement. I just put the theory to the test by volunteering to serve on USC Econ's PHD Admissions Committee. USC Economics is world renown for its excellence in econometrics. With Antonio Bento, Dana Goldman, me and Arie Kapteyn now all at USC (and many other research active Price School faculty), a talented student can take his/her knowledge of econometrics and apply it to the economics of aging, health, the environment and cities. There are many exciting possibilities and permutations here. I strongly encourage serious students to apply. I'm especially interested in attracting students who are graduates from U.S undergraduate institutions. Please contact me if you have any questions.
For those of you who already have a Ph.D., perhaps it is time for you to do a refresher course to see if you are still at the frontier. It is sunny and 80 degrees today on November 18th 2015 in LA. Can you say the same thing about where you are now standing?
via greeneconomics.blogspot.com
Yes, I'm definitely within the frontier. What could be a better challenge than applying to the PhD program in a top economics department and doing the whole g.d. thing all over again? Of course, I'll need to bone up on my maths. I stopped at integral calculus as an undergrad but it should be fun taking real analysis and whatnot from the folks in Walker Hall. After I get accepted I can only hope to get an assistantship that would allow me and my family to live in the sunny city of angels for 6+ years. But dang, I'm just so excited about thinking a dissertation topic that would apply my new world renown econometrics skills (I've always wanted to be able to write out my own likelihood function in "matlab" ... [is that what the kids call it?]) to some hedonic data!!! And then I could jump in the labor market and go for that R1 job that I've always dreamed about. But, I also have location preferences. I hear that the weather is always wonderful in southern CA.