[skowmunk]

1) On an average anything that usually pays better money would require more hardwork.

2) There are more engineering jobs than jobs for economists, inspite of the recent layoffs because of the recession. I would feel safe saying that would remain so far into the future. (The recessions and depressions are an inevitable part of the economic cycle - they will always be there)

3) I believe the median pay for an engineer would be more than the median pay for an economist of comparable experience and proficiency(as in skill).

4) I agree with what nostrademons says, and to further go in that direction, the average pay of the top 1 percentile of economists may probably be higher than that of the 1 percentile of engineers, but if that percentile to be considered were to be raised to even just the top 10%, then I would imagine the average pay of the engineers would be higher than that of the economists.

5) Guess who are hired more at companies like google, microsoft, qualcomm, apple, etc, engineers or economists?