Students are invited to enter the Royal Economic Society’s Young Economist of the Year competition 2019, in association with the Financial Times (FT).
To be in with a chance to win a cash prize and the opportunity to be published in the FT, Year 12 and Year 13 students studying A-Level have until midnight on Sunday 30 June 2019 to submit a 1500-word essay on one of the following five titles:
- “HS2 is a political vanity project that makes little economic sense.” Do you agree? Could better economic decisions have been taken about HS2?
- Should the government introduce a cap on unarranged bank overdraft fees? Explain your answer.
- “Money would be better spent in the UK instead of on overseas development.” Do you agree? Explain your answer.
- “The Universal Basic Income is the best solution to handle the large scale displacement of labour due to automation in the coming years.” Do you agree?
- “A carbon tax is insufficient to deal with the challenge of climate change and instead we should invest in new technologies.” Do you agree?
Prizes
Best overall essay – £1000 and the opportunity to be published in the FT
Best essay on each topic – £200 each (x5 prizes)
Rules
- The Young Economist of the Year 2019 competition is open to all year 12 and year 13 students studying A-Level either in the UK or internationally
- Directors, employees and immediate family members of employees of [the Royal Economic Society] (RES)] the Financial Times Limited (FT), and their associated companies and agencies are not eligible to take part in the Competition. The competition is free to enter and only one entry is permitted per student in a given year
- The Competition shall be void where prohibited by local laws or regulations, including where in RES or FT’s reasonable opinion we cannot accept an entry or provide a prize due to sanctions laws or banking restrictions. It is the responsibility of entrants to ensure that they are able to participate in the Competition in compliance with local laws and regulations. To the fullest extent permitted by law, RES and FT are not liable where an entrant has breached local laws and/or regulations in connection with the Competition
- All entries must be submitted via the Royal Economic Society website using the form provided and hard copies cannot be accepted. Entrants must include their contact details on this form
- All entries should be submitted in either Microsoft Word or PDF format
- Entrants should not receive any assistance except for proofreading or for accessibility purposes. Entrants must provide details of any assistance received
- Entrants agree that their entry is their own work, written solely for the purpose of the Competition, and warrant that their entry does not breach any applicable laws or regulations or infringe any third intellectual property or privacy rights, and is not in any way libellous, defamatory, obscene, indecent, harassing or threatening
- Entries will be judged anonymously. Entrants should therefore not include their name or school on the essay
- Essays should be a maximum of 1,500 words excluding references. Students should focus on economic analysis and include references
- Entries in response to each question will be judged according to their originality, quality of writing, economic content and quality of the economic argument
- The Royal Economic Society will hold a judging day which will draw up a shortlist of entries. A judging panel consisting of an independent judge and representatives of RES and the FT will select the final six winners. The names of the judging panel will be made available on request. The judges’ decisions shall be final. No correspondence regarding the results will be entered into
- The names and schools of entries shortlisted and the winners will be published on the Royal Economic Society website and social media along with the winners essays. The FT will have the right to also publicise this information on their website and social media
- Any personal data which may be submitted in an entry will be processed by RES in accordance with any applicable data protection legislation, and RES Privacy Notice available at https://www.res.org.uk/resource-library-page/privacy-notice.html
- The best overall essay will win £1000. The winner will also have the opportunity for their essay to be published in the FT, subject to the approval of the editors. Unless agreed otherwise, entrants retain ownership over their entry to the Competition. By submitting an entry, entrants grant FT a worldwide, non-exclusive, sub-licensable, irrevocable and royalty-free licence to use, display, publish, transmit, copy and edit the entry, in whole or in part, in any way and in any media, whether now known or invented in the future
- The best essay on each question (x5) will receive a prize of £200
- No entry can win more than one prize. The prizes are non-exchangeable, non-transferable and no alternative is offered
- The Royal Economic Society and the FT reserve the right to replace the prizes with alternative prizes of equal or higher value if necessary, and to cancel, amend or suspend the Competition, or any part of it (including these Terms and Conditions) as required by the circumstances
- The winners will be notified by email or telephone or in writing (using the details provided at entry) and will be invited to a prize-giving ceremony at the RES Annual Public Lecture in London on 26 November 2019. If the prizes are declined or unclaimed by a winner, or if a winner cannot be contacted from the details supplied within 15 business days of notification, a replacement winner may be chosen at RES’ discretion and will be notified by RES. The original entry that was chosen will then be forfeited. RES will not be liable for any failure, delay or inability to contact a winner
- The deadline for submissions is midnight (BST) on Sunday 30 June 2019. Any entry which is late, incomplete or inappropriate will be deemed invalid at the discretion of the Royal Economic Society
- The Royal Economic Society accepts no responsibility for any technical failures which may result in any entry being lost, corrupted or not properly registered. No responsibility will be taken for damaged or lost entries
- RES and FT cannot accept responsibility for or liability arising from entrants taking part in the Competition or for taking up the prizes. RES and FT give no warranty or guarantee in relation to the prizes and accept no responsibility or liability for the prizes being amended. To the fullest extent permitted by law, RES and FT exclude liability for all loss, damage or claim arising as a result of a participant’s entry into the Competition or use of the prizes (save in the case of death or personal injury caused by the negligence of RES or FT)
- By entering the Competition, entrants agree to hold RES and FT harmless for liability, damages or claims for injury or loss to any person or property, relating to, directly or indirectly, participation in this Competition, or claims based on publicity rights, third party intellectual property rights, defamation or invasion of privacy
- The Royal Economic Society reserves the right to refuse entry or to refuse to award a prize to anyone in breach of the Rules
- These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law. Disputes arising in connection with this Competition shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts
- The promoter is the Royal Economic Society, 2 Dean Trench St, Westminster, London, SW1P 3HE
