Why is economics popular?

In this article Jeff Miron asks: Why is economics the most popular major at Harvard? He offers five possible reasons but it is the last two that he thinks are the key factors behind economics’ popularity. Reasons four and five are:

A fourth explanation is that economics is a practical and marketable degree. Many economics graduates land starting salaries in six figures. Economics is good training for business school, law school, or a career in public policy. With the growth of health economics as a field, even some pre-meds sensibly consider our department. The list of successful people with economics backgrounds spans many walks of life: Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Diane von Furstenberg, Warren Buffet, Donald Trump, Kofi Annan, Sandra Day O’Connor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Meg Whitman—even Gene Kelly, Mick Jagger, and Tiger Woods!

A fifth possibility is that students find economics interesting and useful for answering fundamental and important questions. What are the constraints on human behavior and happiness, and how can people attain their goals in the face of these constraints? When do private actions lead to widely beneficial outcomes, and when might government improve on these outcomes? Last year, 10 of our concentrators found these questions so compelling that they planned to pursue graduate study in economics.

In New Zealand's universities I'm sure economics is not the most popular major. Why? Is it that reasons four and five don't apply here? Are economics degrees not marketable? And if not, why not? Do students in New Zealand not find economics interesting and useful for answering fundamental and important questions? I'm sure the big questions of the time are the same in the USA and New Zealand, so if economics helps people think about them in the US, why not in New Zealand?