When Economics Runs in the Family

Aunt. Uncle. Grandfather. Father. All were economists in Kate Warne’s family.

Warne, who served on the Council of Economic Advisers during the Reagan administration, recalled in this Women in Economics podcast interview how she intentionally majored in political science rather than following in the family footsteps. That is, until she starting looking for a job. “I realized that it was my minor in economics that everybody was interested in, so then I went on and did a Ph.D. in economics.”

Warne, now a principal and investment strategist at Edward Jones, also discussed the wisdom of strategically sourcing women as financial advisers—“[W]e actually think it gives us a competitive advantage, so there’s huge amounts of opportunity”—and offered advice to anyone contemplating a career in econ.

“[D]on’t think of it as, ‘Oh, well, the only thing I can do is become an economics professor.’ It’s basically a good grounding for whatever you decide to do because it’s this way of thinking, and it’s an analysis of what’s going on in the world. … There are all kinds of things that we’re concerned about where good economic analysis is needed and where the problems are really, really interesting.”

• Women in Economics Podcast series
• Timely Topics: Economic Literacy for Life