Applications Invited for FCDO Next Generation Economics Competition 2024

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About the Organization

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) coordinates the UK’s diplomatic relationships, promotes UK interests abroad, and manages the UK’s overseas development budget.

The Next Generation Economics competition is managed by the FCDO in collaboration with the Hub for Equal Representation (HER) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Economics is important to our work, whether it is evaluating the sustainability of the UK’s international climate change commitments or analysing the contribution of the UK in reducing global poverty through aid programmes. Economics helps the FCDO make the most of each pound of taxpayer money.

About the Event

The FCDO invites UK school students to write about the biggest economic challenges facing their generation. The competition is open until 28 June 2024.

We want:

• to hear your ideas on one of the biggest economic challenges facing your generation. The FCDO represents UK interests across the world, and our economists work on finding and analysing solutions to global challenges
• to inspire the next generation of economists. Our competition aims to demonstrate how economics is a vital tool for answering important, urgent policy questions.
• the next generation of economists to be even more diverse and open-minded than the current generation. We encourage you to enter the competition, whatever your background (and however much you know about economics.

Competition themes:

To enter, submit your letter responding to 1 out of these 4 questions:

• 2023 Nobel Prize laureate Claudia Goldin states that unequal division of caregiving and household responsibilities play a key role in gender pay gap. What policies could governments implement to increase female participation in the paid economy? 
• International efforts to reduce carbon emissions increase demand for clean energy technology and critical minerals. How could material rich developing countries capitalize on the demand for critical minerals to boost growth? 
• Climate change plus the impact of global conflict on international supply chains has enhanced risk on food security. What market intervention can governments across the world take to mitigate food security risk? 
• According to the UN, 3.3 billion people now live in countries where debt interest payments are greater than expenditure on health or education. What actions could governments globally take to ensure debt does not prevent investment towards development?

Prizes:

We will announce the competition results in July 2024. There are several prizes on offer:

• the winner will receive a cash prize of £500
• 2 runners up will each receive 250 
• 5 shortlisted entrants will receive £100 each

The winner will present their essay to Adnan Khan, FCDO Chief Economist.

The top 8 entrants will be offered a fully-funded visit to the FCDO and the London School of Economics in London. They will also meet with one of the co-directors of the Hub for Equal Representation at the LSE. Fully-funded visits are only available to UK-based entrants.

We will publish the letters of the winner and runners up on the GOV.UK website and share them across the Government Economic Service. 

The top 25 entrants will each receive an economics book, chosen from a shortlist selected by the FCDO Chief Economist.

Who can enter 

To enter, you must be:

• at least 14 years old
• studying in the UK at secondary school level (including sixth form and elective home education or home schooling), or at a British international school

You do not need to be studying or have studied economics. Entering the competition is free.

How to Apply

Your entry should:

• be formatted as a letter addressed to the FCDO’s Chief Economist Adnan Khan
• be 1,000 words or fewer
• clearly reference any evidence included. We recommend using the Harvard referencing style. References are not included in the word count
• not use applications such as ChatGPT or other forms of artificial intelligence (AI)

Entries can include graphs and graphics, but these are not essential.

You can ask an economics teacher for advice on the themes they plan to cover, economic concepts, recommended sources and writing styles. 

The FCDO Next Generation Economics Entry Template (ODT, 6.7 KB) includes a table at the top with information including your name, age and school. Fill this in, remove it from the template and include it in your email to us. 

How to do this:

• Fill in the entry template
• Select and cut completed template
• Create email
• Paste completed template into to email
• Attach entry and email it to NextGenerationEconomics@fcdo.gov.uk

For more information please check the Link

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