<p>thebull,
I have been a professional business economist my entire career, and I see no evidence that there is a “very high demand” for economists to do economic forecasting. I have spent my career doing economic forecasting, both for large corporations and consulting companies. The membership in our professional association, the National Association for Business Economics, is far lower than it was in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and we have been able to sustain what membership we have by adding academics and government employees to our membership base.</p>
<p>Economics is a great liberal arts background for someone who may consider a business career, but there is not a very high demand, even for economics PhDs, to work for large corporations doing economic forecasting.</p>
<p>I also am quite dubious about the average salary for an economics professor starting at $200k. In the 2006-07 academic year, the average salary for an assistant professor of economics at PhD granting institutions was $96k, while at BA and MA granting institutions it was $80k. A full professor at a business school might get a salary of $200k, but a full professor in an economics department at a LAC might have a salary in the $110 - 125k range. These are quite good incomes - even a starting salary of $96k is very good, but it is far from a salary that “starts at 200k and goes up.”</p>