After graduating from UVM in 1991, Paul attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he completed his PhD in economics. During his time at UVM, Paul states that “UVM gave me the skills I needed, particularly some of the more rigorous, math-based courses, which helped prepare me for the transition to graduate school.” Paul also took advantage of the study abroad resources on campus, spending a semester in Stockholm Sweden, where he “learned so much about the political economy and how countries interact, and that breadth of experience was very transformational.” 

Following his completion of graduate school, Paul entered the centralized job market for PhD economists, organized by the American Economics Association (AEA). The AEA has an annual meeting every January where freshly graduated PhD economists like Paul are connected with employers, mainly in academia and government entities. Paul recalls “You’d set up interviews, and you’d go to as many as you possibly could within the three-day conference.” Through this process, Paul landed a position at the US Treasury Department, where he worked analyzing and developing tax policy proposals. Paul remembers this position very fondly, “It was a very interesting position because the US has a wildly complex tax system, where social programs are run through our tax system, and I learned so much.”  

After six years with the Treasury Department, Paul moved on to working in the Fed, where he has been ever since, apart from a brief stint in 2010-2011 where he was selected to serve a one-year rotation as a senior economist on the Council of Economic Advisers in the White House. During his time in the Fed Paul has enjoyed working on economic and financial analysis research, which he finds to be both fast-paced and exciting. He has also found a fantastic community of individuals within the workplace. Paul states, “It is super motivating to be in the public sector, where your job has a public service component to it, and I think my coworkers are also motivated by the same drive to make the world a better place. Many of the people I work with are both public-minded and optimistic. Additionally, the economics workplace is very global, with many coworkers bringing different backgrounds and perspectives.” 

To anyone interested in following a path similar to Paul's, he recommends “keep an open mind, and to always maintain a growth mindset, where you always focus on learning and developing new skills.”