Each year the Royal Economic Society asks Year 12 and 13 students to submit an essay or report for The Young Economist of the Year Essay Competition, with this year’s competition open to those studying A-Level, International Baccalaureate (IB) or Scottish Highers qualifications.
For 2022, students were asked to write an essay or report of up to 1,000 words on one of four given topics, ranging from the cost-of-living crisis to cryptocurrency. This year the competition had over 1,000 submissions from students across the country.
The Royal Economic Society is pleased to announce that the overall winner of this year’s competition is Henry Wilson-Litt of Harris Westminster Sixth Form School. Henry will receive a cash prize and have his essay published in the Financial Times, which will be available to read on our website and on the FT’s in the coming weeks. Alongside the overall winner, the Society are pleased to name the remaining three winners:
- Gabriella Piccolo of Tiffin Girls’ School for her submission on the ‘cost of living crisis’ (‘The UK inflation rate – measured by the Consumer Price Index – is the highest it has been in 30 years, prompting concerns that it will cause a “cost of living crisis”. Which types of individuals or families/households are most affected by the current inflation situation and why?’).
- Lan (Lydia) Zhang of Westminster School for her submission on the ‘value of education’ (‘The Value of University Degrees’).
- William Lawson of St Olaves Grammar School for his submission on ‘cryptocurrency’ (‘Cryptocurrencies and the Bank of England’).
The following were shortlisted and were the top three finalists from each category:
- Felix George O’Brien, St Paul’s School, for his submission on ‘levelling up’ (how “levelling up” could be effectively realised on the Isle of Arran, in Scotland.’)
- Arvin Egli, Brighton College, for his submission on ‘levelling up’ (‘The UK government’s “levelling up” programme aims to “spread opportunity more equally across the UK”. For one region of your choice, suggest how this “levelling up” could be carried out in practice.)
- Diti Shah, Henrietta Barnett School, for her submission on ‘cost of living’ (Certain groups have been suffering disproportionally from current inflation – assessing the scale of impact on different groups of people.’)
- Zayaan Daad, City of London School, for his submission on ‘cost of living’ (Which types of individuals or families/households are most affected by the current inflation situation and why?’)
- Ijeoma Nwagwu, The Hertfordshire and Essex High School and Science College, for her submission on ‘value of education’ (The Value of a University Degree’).
- Annika Dhariwal, Cheltenham Ladies College, for her submission on ‘value of education’ (‘Which university degrees do you think will be considered “high value” in 5-10 years’ time, and why?’).
- Ian Edward Collett Narvaez, Loughborough Grammar School, for his submission on ‘cryptocurrency’ (What challenges do cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin pose for the Bank of England, whose role is to regulate the UK’s financial sector and keep the macroeconomy stable?’).
- Lora Stamatova, St Mary’s College, for her submission on ‘cryptocurrency’ (What challenges do cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin pose for the Bank of England, whose role is to regulate the UK’s financial sector and keep the macroeconomy stable?’).
We would also like to commend the following submissions who made it to our commended list for their great work and originality:
Regional inequality and ‘levelling up’
- Beatrice Booth, High Storrs School
- Callum Holmes, The Polesworth School
- Noah Kontou Goymer, Pate’s Grammar School
- Chenyang Li, Eton College
- Hatty Kingsford, Millfield School
- Gleb Novik, Hurtwood House
- Toby Graham, Shrewsbury School
The UK’s ‘cost of living crisis’
- Heer Ratda, Westminster School
- Liam Tang, Bradfield College
- Emily James, Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar
- Ben Raybould, Solihull School
- Matilda Rose Schoenfeld, Chesham Grammar School
- Ralph Alexander Wong Janes, Roundwood Park School
- Konstantin Chopov, Hurtwood House School
- Thomas Lloyd, Colchester Royal Grammar School
- Ben Leacock, Cranleigh School
- Fearghus Beauchamp, Bede’s Senior School
- Alexa O’Leary, St Paul’s Girls’ School
- Katherine Anne Price, Walthamstow Hall
- Dawud Conor Clifford Murphy, King Edward VI Five Ways School
- Kazuki Fletcher, Dwight School London
The value of a university degree
- George Rudman, The Royal Grammar School Guildford
- Yue Nok You, Ruthin School
- Tianyi Zhang, Brighton College
- Lily King, Beaconsfield High School
- Teja Parchuri, Beaconsfield High School
Cryptocurrency and financial stability
- Yanxi Wang, Radley College
- George Jun Xiang Lin, Truro School
- Yameen Rahman, Sutton Grammar School
- Yousef Alnowais, Queen Ethelburgas College
The Society would like to congratulate all of 2021’s winners and thank everybody who participated.
The Society would also like to remind you to take advantage of free access to the Financial Times for schools and students.
