It's funny, because my advice is basically the opposite for getting an Econ PhD. You get paid very little during grad school; it seems to exacerbate depression

It's funny, because my advice is basically the opposite for getting an Econ PhD. You get paid very little during grad school; it seems to exacerbate depression, etc. and is bad for relationships (no formal data to back those up, just my experience and observations); you work an ungodly amount if you want a prestigious job, and peer pressure will probably convince you that you do no matter what you believe entering the program; most likely you're not as smart or as good as you believe; etc...; an MA/MS in econ is nearly worthless, since it's widely known to be a consolation prize for failing out of a PhD program (and most top programs don't even offer a terminal masters); etc. And the only benefit is that you get to spend all of your time learning about economics (or, in my case, econometrics), and, if you're lucky, get a job where you're expected to do that for the rest of your life. So, that had better be one big fucking cherry to compensate for what you're giving up. And my thought process is, if my discouragement is enough to stop someone from going to grad school, they probably shouldn't go. Which is why I tell everyone not to go to grad school, even though I'm very grateful that I had 6 years to learn about and think about econ and wouldn't trade it for any other job experience.