[jonnathanson]

"If you study macro, well, you'll make a good candidate for a job.... doing macroeconomics?"

There's a damned good living to be made as a macroeconomist in D.C. The bar for intellectual rigor is pretty low, and you're basically a lobbyist/speechwriter masquerading as a "policy advisor." It's the sale of your soul, but the price can be attractive.

Alternatively, there are some very handsomely paying "life of the mind" roles available at the think tanks. Of course, this stuff is politics at its most base and animalistic, and so your advancement is 100% predicated on playing the game of thrones. (The modern-day think tank is a lobbying organization given a euphemistic name.)