Write about the biggest economic challenges facing your generation by 18 February 2022 to enter our Next Generation Economics Competition. You could win £250.
Welcome to Next Generation Economics, a Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) competition for students in years 10 to 13 (in England and Wales, or equivalent in Scotland and Northern Ireland) interested in economics. You do not need to have studied economics to take part. Next Generation Economics is your chance to write about the biggest economic challenges facing your generation.
Update: The competition deadline has been extended to 18 February 2022. To ensure fairness, if you had already submitted your entry before 6 January 2022, you may re-submit if you wish to do so.
How the competition works
To enter, submit your response to 1 of these 2 questions:
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What economic policies should governments around the world use to economically empower women and girls?
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What economic policies should the UK government use to facilitate a fair transition away from fossil fuels globally?
Your entry should take the form of a letter to the FCDO Chief Economist and should be no longer than 800 words.
If you do not have access to email, post your letter to:
Next Generation Economics Competition Team
Room KG.18, Economics Directorate
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH
We will announce the competition winner in March 2022. They will receive £250 and be invited to present their ideas to the Chief Economist and their team at the FCDO. Runners up will also receive a cash prize. We will publish winning letters on the GOV.UK website and share them across the Government Economic Service.
Your answer should make use of economic concepts. Check out the writing like an economist page for ideas about which economic concepts might be most relevant and tips on how to write effectively.
Introduction from Nick Lea, Acting FCDO Chief Economist
The aims of the competition
This competition has 3 aims. We want:
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to hear your ideas on one of the 2 big 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
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to inspire the next generation of economists. Our competition aims to demonstrate how economics is a vital tool for answering important, urgent policy questions
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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). Find out more about diversity in the economics profession.
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
The FCDO, the government department responsible for the UK’s relationship with the rest of the world, is running this competition. The FCDO manages the UK’s diplomatic relationships, promotes UK interests overseas, and oversees the UK’s overseas development budget.
Economics is important to our work, whether it is evaluating the sustainability of the UK’s international climate change commitments, analysing the impact of UK support to girls’ education in lower-income countries, or managing the UK’s contribution to global COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Economics helps the FCDO make the most of each pound of taxpayer money.
Good luck!
We look forward to reading your entries.
