Before the 150 units requirement, many econ majors from UC Berkeley have completed the requirements to become a CPA. With the recent required 150 units requirements (30 extra semester units beyond the 120 semester units for a Bachelor’s degree), you can still achieve that 30 units by taking classes in a community college, extension courses, the Accountancy program mentioned above or a Master in Accounting. You have to decide whether it is worth the time, costs and effort. A person I know majored in accounting from a lower tier school recently interned in my department. After graduation, the person got a Masters in Accounting from St. Mary’s College (not quite the reputation of UC Berkeley) and went on to work for a Big 4 firm. There is not guarantee in getting hired by a Big 4 firm, if that is the goal.
Whether you get a UC Berkeley economics degree or a UCB Haas degree, you still have that 30 units hurdle to overcome if you want to be a CPA in CA.