“A few graduate students with relevant interests seemed to agree that a masters degree (not a PhD, and not a law degree) is typically the best option for going into think tank research.”
Flagging that when I worked at Brookings ten years ago, a large majority of senior fellows in economic studies had PhDs. The exceptions I can think of had decades of impressive experience.
Things may have changed since then. Also, at the time this was more true at Brookings than other think tanks and more true in economics than other fields.
“A few graduate students with relevant interests seemed to agree that a masters degree (not a PhD, and not a law degree) is typically the best option for going into think tank research.”
Flagging that when I worked at Brookings ten years ago, a large majority of senior fellows in economic studies had PhDs. The exceptions I can think of had decades of impressive experience.
Things may have changed since then. Also, at the time this was more true at Brookings than other think tanks and more true in economics than other fields.