Economics summit reaches new heights

By Alice Cobb

Months of preparation and thousands of miles travelled from students and speakers alike had brought together a group who now, standing in the Ramphal foyer, were eagerly anticipating a weekend that is known to be the best academic event of any campus. There was a tangible excitement filling the room and a palpable buzz of optimism as students looked forward to the many engaging speeches and debates that lay ahead. The Warwick Economics Summit had began.

The 2014 proceedings were started by Simon Gaysford who delivered an interesting talk on ‘bringing microeconomics to life in the commercial world’ and the implications of behavioural economics for business. Gaysford’s fascinating talk certainly raised the standards from the off and enlarged many expectations for the weekend. Indeed no student felt any opportunity cost of missing a Friday night in Kasbah for the start of the Summit!

Saturday morning and the highlight was Dr Nasser Saidi and his talk on the often neglected subject of economic performance in Arab countries. Proposing new growth enhancing policies and ‘game changers’ for these countries, the former Lebanese Minister of Economy and Trade delivered an insightful and topical presentation. As the day progressed and the audience sizes began to grow the diversity of the students attending the Summit became apparent.

Students had descended on Warwick from all over the globe and one such attendee was Segun Adegemi who had travelled all the way from Nigeria. Segun, who had been looking to come to the Summit for five years, was finally given the opportunity in 2014 after winning the Warwick Economic Summit Scholarship.

The economics student at Lagos University said ‘the Summit has been really fun so far and I’m enjoying every moment. I particularly enjoyed Dr Nasser Saidi’s talk and I’m very much looking forward to the remainder of the weekend’. He also added ‘the event has been really well organised and I have had a great experience here at Warwick. The five year wait has definitely been worthwhile.’

As well as engaging talks the Summit also provided a panel de- bate which saw four MP’s from the leading political parties discuss a variety of issues from European immigration to HS2. It also gave the chance for students to articulately grill and remonstrate with the politicians – an opportunity many seemed to relish.

The award for the best speech of the day had to go to Professor Sam Potolicchio who closed Saturday’s proceedings. His animated and engaging talk on ‘what makes a great political leader provided the perfect finish for what had been a great day.

Despite the infamous Summit ball continuing into the early hours of Sunday morning, the lecture theatre was still full for the first speech on the final day delivered by Luke Johnson. The former chairman of Pizza Express gave an inspiring and refreshing talk on entrepreneurship and encouraged students to pursue their dreams.

A crammed lecture theatre for Eric Maskin’s much anticipated  talk

The penultimate talk of the Summit and the most eagerly anticipated was Eric Maskin’s presentation about game theory. The American economist and Nobel laureate had flown in from Harvard to cast light on the interesting topic of mechanism design. The keynote speaker didn’t fail to disappoint and provided an enlightening talk on the ‘engineering parts of economic game theory’.

The event has been really well organised and I have had a great experience here at Warwick. The five year wait has definitely been worthwhile

As the event drew to a conclusion, the buzz of optimism that had been present on Friday and indeed throughout the weekend was replaced by a sense of sadness. 18 esteemed speakers, 7 informative seminars and a lively panel debate had all flown by.

Summit organisers Chloe Honeyborne (Deputy Talks Coordinator) and James Sullivan (Talks team member) said ‘this year’s summit has been absolutely fantastic and has been the smoothest event run to date. We have laid some of the best foundations for future summits by really engaging with external delegates and building great relationships with some of the world’s leading academics’.

Neither could agree on a single highlight with James opting for ‘the lively speech Professor Sam Potolicchio gave’ whilst Chloe said that she ‘really enjoyed the live panel debate’.

However one thing they were both adamant about was the importance of the 50 member strong Summit coordination team and said that ‘although at times organising the event was hectic and hard work it had all been worthwhile and a very rewarding experience’. They added that ‘the whole team must take credit for what has truly been a thrilling event’.

Indeed, the 13th Warwick Economics Summit certainly eclipsed the success of previous years; economics was brought to life, students left enriched by academic insights and the Summit reached new heights.