Warwick Economics Summit breaks record

**The twelfth annual Warwick Economics Summit took place at the University from Friday 15 February to Sunday 17 February, with internal tickets to the event selling out in record time.**

The event is an entirely student run international political forum where students can listen to some of the world’s most revered speakers in the field of economics, finance and international relations.

This year’s highly esteemed talks came from Vince Cable, secretary of state for business, innovation and skills who gave the keynote speech on Saturday, Sir Bob Kerslake, head of the Civil Service and Sir David Henry, academic and head of Oxford University’s Economics Department.

There was also an animated talk from Rory Sutherland, a marketing expert, and an insight into the working life of Saudi Arabian women in a talk from analyst Reem Asaad.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls and president of the European Commission Jose Manuel also recorded video messages for the Summit.

Harry Brooks, one of the Summit’s two chief coordinators, was thrilled at how the weekend turned out. He said: “Last year’s line-up was spectacular, but we think this year’s was pretty special too.

“It’s not every day that you see policy makers and economists from all over the world come together like they did over the weekend”

However, he admitted that organising such a high profile student run event was difficult at times. “I’ve now been involved in the Summit since 2011 and [this year] I’d say the biggest challenge has been overcoming time and money constraints.

“We start out with a very limited budget compared to what similar events around the world have to play with. And though we work all year round, it still doesn’t seem like we have enough time!”

As is tradition, a ball for all attendees was held on Saturday in the Panorama Rooms – the theme this year being ‘Great Gatsby’ – and a three course meal was served.

Alex Carr, a student of Warwick Business School was impressed by the range of speakers. He said: “It was great to hear from people from the finance sector, as well as academics and politicians.

“I also liked the way in which students could engage with the speakers through the questions and answers session at the end of every talk. I wish some speakers were on for longer though.”

Over 400 people attended the Summit, 200 of which were Warwick students, and each year the event draws people from all corners of the globe.

Jamil Hijazi, originally from Lebanon and studying at Dundee University, enjoyed his short visit to the University. He said: “the Summit ball really set the theme of the 20’s, and [it was useful to] gain an insight from intellectual speakers on a range of topics about the interaction of the world’s politics which stimulated the minds of our future generation.”

The Summit began in 2002, and Internal tickets for this year sold out in a record 12 minutes – making it the fastest student-run event ever to sell out through the Student’s Union ticketing service.