Over the last two weeks, the Economics department has attended two online conferences: the first was organised by the Financial Times (FT) and called Understanding Economics (Monday 14th November) involved various FT Editors and columnists talking about a specific topic with a guest of their choice, and the second was the Economics in Action Conference (Friday 25th November).
Aimee Hughes (Upper Sixth) reflected: “The FT online conference provided us with extended knowledge and examples of topics we have been studying in economics. I was particularly intrigued by the talk about neoliberalism and the macroeconomic effect of globalisation, including the impact it has on wealth, growth and especially sustainability which is so prevalent in today’s world. It often opens up interesting discussions about government intervention and whether certain policies that may be or have been implemented are beneficial or more harmful in the long term.”
Amy Hall (Upper Sixth) said: “The FT conference was especially helpful in relating topics we have studied in Economics to real world examples and events that are happening today. I found the talk called Is Globalisation Declining particularly interesting as it discussed the positives and negatives of Globalisation on factors such as Climate Change, which linked directly to my A-Level Geography studies.”
Simrit Rai (Upper Sixth) added: “The speakers and topics introduced a myriad of new ideas and economic concepts, of which I found that the impact of climate change on trade patterns particularly fascinated me. The idea that if we did see the irreversible melting of the Arctic or Antarctica it would bring new trade routes and perhaps shift global trading patterns. It also brought up the idea of globalisation and whether we are now seeing the retreat of globalisation and the increase in protectionism especially following the Pandemic. We also discussed the current rise in inflation and current causes found within the news which I found incredibly relevant and interesting.”
Following this fascinating conference was the Economics in Action Conference, which took place last Friday. Jemima Peacock (Upper Sixth) reflected: “The talk that stayed with me was about inflation and the fact that this is not a short-term problem; the effects of this inflation will be felt in years to come. Furthermore, Steven Davis outlined ways in which we could solve our economic problems; one of which was joining the EU not as a member country but rather you trade with the EU.
Scarlet Stokes (Upper Sixth) added: “It was very interesting to listen to Dr Yueh explain the history of economics and its founders. It was fascinating to hear about the friendly conflict and controversy that Smith and Hayek had throughout their career whilst both having a profound influence on Economics.”
Benita Bampoe (Upper Sixth) said: “It was interesting to see how concepts such as absolute and comparative advantage can be applied in real life - this especially fascinated me as we had done this recently in lessons! I believe that this conference has not only helped me to reinforce my current knowledge, but has given me an insight into areas I have never come across.”
