The average pay for an economist is about $80,000; the average pay for a sociology graduate is $60,000 according to the Careers New Zealand advice on your salary prospects for various degrees over a career.
Obviously going down market for graduates has not saved the taxpayer a single cent because they pay economists the same as non-economists despite it being easier to recruit an equally smart non-economists for less pay because they have fewer well-paid options in the rest of the labour market. It never occurred to the Treasury that changing the mix of their recruitment pool might save money!
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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