I first discovered my passion for ‘the dismal science’ during the UK’s 2016 EU referendum, aptly dubbed ‘Brexit’. I have always had a love of science, mathematics and statistics, so an obsession with Economics came naturally. From my first introduction course, I was fascinated to see how human behaviour, something I previously thought to be extremely volatile, could be translated into an exact formula that defines the entire aggregate demand of a nation’s economy.
Last summer, I was fortunate enough to arrange a fortnight’s work experience ghosting the CEO of the mortgage firm Together, Henry Moser. During this time, I saw the real-world implications of economic theory I had previously only read in the classroom or listened to in podcasts. Interestingly, I was also able to witness how, in accordance with ‘Talebian’ economic theory explained in ‘Fooled by Randomness’ and ‘The Black Swan’, certain models began to break down when the accuracy of predicted business activity relied on the assumption that consumers were making rational choices when, in fact, their irrational ‘animal spirits’ were in control. It was this observation that formed the basis of my contribution to the school’s economics periodical, The Sleeping Dragon. In my article, I explain that the concept of ‘a perfect economic model’ is deeply flawed because it inevitably maintains the assumption of ‘ceteris paribus’. In real-life, however, there are numerous inconsistent variables that disrupt any attempt to build a perfect model.
The reason Economics as a field intrigues me more than any other subject, is the human entanglement associated with it, particularly in behavioural and ethical economics. The first experience I had of this branch of economics was listening to Mike Norton talking about his book ‘Happy Money’ in one of Dan Ariely’s ‘Arming the Donkeys’ podcasts. Norton neatly explained that consumers often overestimate the amount of happiness goods will bring them and spend unwisely. I have particularly enjoyed analysing the difference between Milton Friedman’s amoral free market ‘Chicagonomics’, as Ebenstein calls it, and the ethically-conscious work of Michael Sandel in ‘What Money Can’t Buy’ which criticises the expansion of markets “into spheres of life where they don’t belong”, causing unfairness and a degradation of moral values.
In November 2015, I was part of a team of three pupils who won first place in a national enterprise competition, receiving our award from HRH Prince Andrew at Buckingham Palace. We had developed revision aid software for the core GCSE subjects. I programmed the app with skills I had learnt from online coding courses. These will also contribute to my Duke of Edinburgh Gold skill requirement. For the residential and volunteering part of the award, I attained a qualification in First-Aid, and I then assisted in the delivery of a First-Aid training course for lower school pupils.
I have played cricket for my school every season since joining, captaining the side on several occasions. Being in a position of leadership taught me a lot about managing people and exercising authority, developing my self-confidence. Since then, I have been involved in numerous events to represent my House and school, even winning debating and public speaking competitions. I have also given a mini-series of two lectures on behavioural and ethical economics to Birkdale’s Economics Society. I am a member of an extra-curricular group called the Turing Society, solving physics and maths puzzles to break codes in a competition format. I am also part of Birkdale’s UKMT Maths Challenge team. Outside school, I am committed to a local football team, Hallam Rangers.
To conclude, I hope to study Economics at university as it’s the one course that encompasses all my intellectual interests. Following David Ricardo’s law of comparative advantage, it is the subject in which I have the most potential, and therefore the most rational choice for me to make.