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In its first edition of the academic year, the Econobethan celebrates four remarkable Black women – an astronaut, economist, businesswoman and MP – while also looking at the legacy of slavery in the US.

The special section devoted to Black History Month is followed by articles on Economics – including a look at the economic impact of AI – and Politics – where pupils express some forthright views on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s recent easing of green commitments.

The Econobethan is a pupil-run magazine from the Economics department. This fifteenth edition is the swansong for Year 13 editors Aditya Kute, Nishanth Bhasuru, Aston Daniel and Avinash Srivastava.

Economics teacher Celia Wallace said: “My thanks go to Aditya and his team for a strong edition and an excellent year.”

In their introductory editors’ note, the four-strong team write: “A topic that remains a staple within our publication is the contribution of people of colour to economics. Therefore, in commemoration of the 36th Black History Month, we have allocated a dedicated section to enhance comprehension of black history as a whole.”

In the first article, entitled Black History Month 2023 — Saluting Our Sisters, Aditya profiles three women:

• Jessica Watkins, who in April 2022 became the first Black woman to complete a long-term mission on the International Space Station
• Rosalind Brewer, who was appointed as CEO of US pharmacy store chain Walgreens in March 2021, thus becoming only the third Black woman ever to lead a Fortune 500 company on a non-interim basis
• Chi Onwurah, Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central, who entered politics after a high-flying career in the technology and telecommunications sector.

Nishanth’s article on Sadie T M Alexander, a pioneering 20^th-century African American economist and civil rights activist, is followed by Aston’s exploration of How Slavery’s Economic Echo Shapes America Today and Avinash’s look at contemporary Black economist William Darity.

The Economics section featured Year 13 pupil Soumil Sahjpall’s consideration of cryptocurrencies and whether they are being manipulated. He urged that investors should exercise caution and diversify their portfolios, stating that “whether in cryptocurrencies or traditional investments, the game is the same…The house may not always win, but it possesses significant advantages.”

The section featured two articles on AI – Year 12 boy Akheel Kale’s exploration of whether it will reshape the labour market, and Zaki Mustafa and his fellow Year 12 pupil Uday Dash’s examination of the economic impacts of adopting AI.

Akheel also delved into Economics theory, along with Year 12 pupil Shreyaas Sandeep. Shreyaas explored Game Theory and the Nash Equilibrium, while Akheel’s topic was Neuroeconomics: Better than Behavioural Economics? Tejas Banal, of Year 12, asked Are the High Wages for Top-Tier Sportspeople Justified?

In the Politics section – described by the editors as “robust” – Saim Khan, of Year 12,  thought through the question Would Democracies be Better Off Without Political Parties? and concluded with a resounding negative.

The final three articles all had environmental matters in mind. Shyam Jayabal, of Year 13, asked whether the Bank of England’s remit should be updated to address climate change challenges. Saim had the Prime Minister in his sights with his piece entitled Rishi’s Reckless Reversal on Green Commitments. And Year 12’s Dheeraj Karnati homed in on a specific item of Government policy – the recent delaying of the ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035 – with his piece, An In-Depth Analysis of the UK’s Trade Policies in the EV [Electric Vehicle] Market, in which he outlined the “worrying” situation in which “the Government unintentionally forced domestic car manufacturers to essentially subsidise their Chinese competitors whilst these competitors turn their attention to the UK and flood the market with their cheaper cars”.

With events for all ages, QE’s Economics 450 Festival proved hugely popular with the boys.

The festival featured academic tutorials and a lecture from Old Elizabethans, board games, a quiz, a meeting of QE’s Gresham Society for Economics and a special edition of the department’s periodical, The Econobethan.

It was one of a series of innovative festivals being run by subject departments as part of QE’s new Flourish extra-curricular programme which are aimed at stimulating free-thinking scholarship among the boys. As QE celebrates its 450th anniversary, most have an anniversary theme.

Head of Economics Shamendra Uduwawala said: “Our events had huge turnouts and the festival may be regarded as a great success. I am grateful to everyone who contributed. The boys enjoyed the board games, the quiz and our visiting speakers, while our senior students have once again raised the bar with the festival edition of The Econobethan, which includes some really spectacular work.”

He also paid tribute to his Economics department colleagues, Krishna Shah, Celia Wallace, Abdoulaye Diallo and James Kane.

The festival’s biggest single event was the quiz for Years 7-11. Run in a similar style to the daily online Tradle Economics quiz, it involved boys answering questions delivered to their form groups as Microsoft Forms.

Staplyton, Underne and Harrisons’ tied for first place, with a score of 29, gaining them each 20 House points. Staplyton and Underne benefitted from particularly strong performances from Year 11, while Harrisons’ boys performed consistently across the year groups. The top form overall was 10H (Harrisons’), who scored 8 out of a possible 10 points.

Another highlight was a talk by economist and academic Sandeep Mazumder (OE 1993–2000), who is Dean of Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University, Texas.

Fellow alumnus Alistair Law (OE 2013–2020), who is in his final year at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where he is reading Geography with Economics, held academic tutorials with a number of Year 12 and 13 economists.

The special session of the Gresham Society involved boys presenting articles they had written for The Econobethan PechaKucha-style – that is, 20 slides, with a maximum 20 seconds per slide.

The 450^th anniversary edition of the publication itself includes articles on Economics and related subjects written by boys in Years 10 to 13, as well as an introduction by the Headmaster, Neil Enright.

He wrote: “As my predecessor, Dr John Marincowitz (Headmaster 1999-2011), explained at this year’s Senior Awards Ceremony, when discussing his new published history of the School, the fortunes of the School have repeatedly been shaped by the political, economic and social context of the time. He emphasised that much of the interest in the development of Queen Elizabeth’s, and its multiple reinventions over the centuries, can be found in considering not just the ‘what’, but in the ‘how’ and the ‘why’.

“These are questions and discussions that this special edition of The Econobethan takes up with great skill.”

Extending to 52 pages, the journal’s first article looks at the origins and political significance of the School’s Elizabethan Charter.

The widely varied contents also cover topics including:

• How the British Empire Used Economics to Rule the World: A Game Theoretic Analysis
• The History of Chemical Process Economics and Its Impact on the UK Economy
• What Happens When Central Banks Lose Credibility?
• Regal Ruler or Rigid System? The Pros and Cons of Monarchy Unveiled
• The Revolutionary Effectiveness of Nudge Economics

In addition, there is a Languages section, in which Year 12’s Aayush Backory gave an overview of post-World War II economic policy in Britain – Il était une fois au Royaume-Uni. In Die Geschichte von Sir Thomas Gresham, Aditya Tiwary looked at the life of the 16th-century financier and merchant, Sir Thomas Gresham, who was among the School’s supporters at its foundation in 1573. The Gresham Society is named after him.

The Econobethan was edited by the Year 12 team of Aditya, Aston Daniel, Avinash Srivastava and Nishanth Bhasuru.

The 11^th edition of The Econobethan – QE’s pupil-led magazine focusing on Economics, as well as on Politics and Sociology – spans the centuries and roams the continents.

It includes original writing from Year 12 pupils on topics ranging from the ancient world – the economic history of the Roman Empire – to the very contemporary concern of the climate crisis, and from the underlying causes of Africa’s poverty to Japan’s ‘apology culture’.

The 27-page magazine also has as its special theme, ‘Black history’, with four articles in a dedicated section. The Econobethan was published just ahead of this month’s launch of a statement expressing QE’s vision for a broad, diverse and inclusive curriculum.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “The Econobethan is always a stimulating read, and this issue is no exception, with high-quality, considered submissions from the contributors that should serve to inspire deeper thinking and research from other pupils.

“The theme of Black history is timely: through the launch of our long-term vision for a broad, diverse and inclusive curriculum, we seek to build on the very thoughtful work that has already been done at the School, ensuring that our pupils are well-equipped to thrive in our diverse, modern world.”

The Econobethan is edited by Aditya Kute, Avinash Srivastava and Nishanth Bhasuru. In their introductory editors’ note, they write that the magazine aims to “shed light on economic points of interest, as well as providing a platform for some of the School’s most talented writers to delve into current economic affairs”.

In the Black history section, Aditya looks at why Black History Month is important. He spotlights Sir Arthur Lewis, still the only Black winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics (which he won in 1979), and Claudette Colvin, a pioneer of the American civil rights movement, who, at the age of 15, was arrested in 1950s Alabama for refusing to give up her seat on a crowded bus to a white woman.

Aston Daniel looks in more detail at the work of Sir Arthur, while a piece from Avinash is entitled How Does Systemic Racism Continue to Impact Economic Outcomes for African Americans? and Keith Correia writes on How was the war on drugs in the US used as a segregation tool?

Elsewhere in The Econobethan, Nishanth explores Underworld Economics and concludes that while informal markets do cause ‘numerous issues’, nevertheless ‘contrary to the common belief, they aren’t completely negative’, since, for example, they ‘provide a pathway for low-earning families…to get by and survive’.

In the Languages section, Aayush Backory discusses Le fer et les finances: partie 1: l’économie du Luxembourg du 19ème siècle (Iron and finance Part 1: The economy of 19th century Luxembourg) and Arjun Patel writes in German on How do we Deal With the Climate Crisis? (Wie Bewältigen wir die Klimakrise?)

Year 11 pupil Pavan Kovuri came first on both days of a two-day simulated financial trading event open to Year 11–13 students from across the country.

Pavan, who already has his sights set on a career in trading, was among 20 senior QE boys to be commended for their performance in the Global Markets in Action programme.

The programme was run by financial recruitment consultancy Dartmouth Partners and Amplify Trading, who train people working in hedge funds and investment banks and use cutting-edge technology to simulate market conditions.

Assistant Head (Pupil Destinations) and Economics teacher James Kane said: “To have come first in both simulations was a remarkable performance by any standards and I heartily congratulate Pavan on his achievement.

“Congratulations also go to the other 19 boys who were commended by the judges with comments such as ‘superb trading on the sell side’ and ‘clearly understands the dynamics between [the] buy and sell side’.

“It is interesting to note that Dartmouth Partners are now keen to follow up with a number of our boys to arrange work experience in the finance sector.”

Overall, 50 QE pupils took part in the half-term event, the results of which have now been announced.

The workshop simulated the trading floor of an investment bank or hedge fund and aimed to teach participants how traders use their skills and knowledge to buy and sell stock to generate a profit. The boys had the opportunity to meet professionals from Amplify Trading and to gain practical career tips and insights, such as optimising LinkedIn and creating a CV that stands out.

Pavan came first on day one with a score of 96% for the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) simulation. On day two – the Finance Accelerator simulation – he was ranked first in the asset management side of the simulator, scoring 86%.

Pavan said: “Before participating in the workshop, I was always fascinated with the world of trading in markets, but lacked practical experience; this two-day programme provided me with an immersive hands-on experience to solidify that passion, and drive me towards a future career in trading.

“The thrill of seeing your money fluctuate with every miniscule decision was stimulating, and it was amazing how Amplify managed to capture the buzz of real-life trading.”

Other stand-out performances from the QE group included that of James Stack (Year 12) and Abhinav Karla (Year 10), who jointly took first place in the sales trading aspect of day two.

Zaki Mustafa was the “clear winner” in his age group in a prestigious financial journalism competition.

In his winning essay on the impact of technology on money, the Year 11 pupil ranged widely, starting with the first known currency in ancient Mesopotamia and ending with consideration of how modern financial companies could both use and abuse consumer data.

He won the 14–15 age group in the Young Financial Journalist competition run by the London Institute of Banking & Finance (LIBF) and the Financial Times (FT).

After reading his article, competition judge Claer Barrett, who is the FT’s Consumer Editor, said: “Zaki was the clear winner in this category. I loved his point about gambling with plastic chips and how this involves a similar sense of detachment to using contactless payments.”

Her fellow judge, mathematician, teacher, broadcaster and writer Bobby Seagull, praised the “very mature and clear writing for someone so young!”

Zaki was congratulated by QE’s Head of Economics Shamendra Uduwawala: “This was a well-argued piece of writing which gave an impressive overview of the opportunities and risks that come with the application of technology, including AI, to the world of finance.”

Reflecting on his success, Zaki explained why he had entered the competition. After starting his Economics GCSE last year, he said, “I wanted to educate myself a little bit about how technology is changing the way we view money.”

In his essay, he covered topics including:

• Today’s near-cashless society
• The rise in fraud and cybercrime, including the issue of scams that “impacts the elderly disproportionately”
• The rise of “entirely intangible” cryptocurrencies.

The 730-word composition concluded: “In summary, technology has provided huge benefits to the financial world, namely making payments far more efficient and traceable than hard cash. In spite of this, one must always remember to be vigilant, in light of the increasing risks that are associated with such a luxury.”

Zaki wins a cash prize of £150 and a certificate bearing the judges’ comments. His prize also included ten free places for QE pupils to complete the LIBF’s Lessons in Financial Education (LiFE) programme.

QE expanded its series of popular challenges for local primary school children this year, adding a humanities day to the programme.

The events, which are part of QE’s partnerships work with the local community, are aimed at giving Year 5 girls and boys an early taste of secondary school education.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We are pleased to support local primary schools in this way.

“I know that our staff and pupils involved in running these enrichment activities greatly enjoy the opportunity to meet the visiting children.”

The first of the three days was the ever-popular Primary Forensics Workshop. The visitors were tasked with completing a number of experiments and analyses to work out who had murdered the Headmaster!

There were stations where the children could undertake: hair and fibre analysis using a microscope; fingerprint analysis, and blood spatter analysis (with a blood substitute).

The pupils worked to solve the ‘crime’, using the evidence they collected to build a case, while also weighing up the respective motives of the suspects.

Boys from Year 12 helped staff run this workshop, engaging with the children at each station.

In the Maths and English Challenge, the girls and boys had to solve a series of games and puzzles that ranged from a cross-number round to a session looking at composing and performing poetry.

There was a focus on teamwork and collaboration. Each team had the support of a QE Year 7 pupil.

Special plaudits went to Foulds School pupils, who achieved a near-clean sweep of the prizes, having impressed across the various disciplines on the day.

The new humanities day hosted by the History, Geography and Economics departments comprised two separate activities.

Firstly, teams were given the challenge of designing a castle on paper. They had to base their design on a certain set of criteria and follow a budget, requiring them to decide which features they wanted to prioritise.

They then faced a number of scenarios, presenting both challenges and opportunities for their fortifications. Could their castle and kingdom survive?

“This was a way of exploring history and strategy in a fun and engaging way,” said Mr Enright. “The Year 5 pupils also had to adapt their plans as the scenarios unfolded, which meant teams had to communicate well and quickly make decisions.”

There was then a Sustainability Challenge run jointly by Geography and Economics. The children had to work in groups and devise a sustainable product. They designed their product, chose a logo and decided on their target market. Then each group presented to the other children in attendance. Among the ideas generated were: a mobile phone where the case is a solar panel and charges the phone, and a ‘plastic’ bottle where the bottle itself is biodegradable.

“Our staff were really impressed with the confidence shown by the children in their presentations and by the creativity they brought to bear in designing their products,” said the Headmaster.

Participating Barnet primary schools this year included: Underhill, Whitings Hill, Christchurch, and Foulds.

A trio of Old Elizabethan Economics graduates gave senior pupils interested in following in their footsteps valuable career and life insights in a series of talks.

Zainul Jafferji (2000-2007), Zain Gulamali (2005–2012) and Yemi Falana (2008–2015) gave advice on topics ranging from critical thinking to internships during the programme of talks organised by the Economics department.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Our alumni are heavily involved in helping current pupils in a wide variety of ways, from mentoring to conducting mock interviews. I am very grateful to Zainul, Zain and Yemi for giving their time so generously to guide QE economists of the future.”

Zainul visited on three consecutive weeks, while Zain and Yemi gave virtual talks.

It was, Zain told the Headmaster afterwards, “lovely to get a chance to ‘give back’… always keen to help where I can. I still remember how I felt when I was in their shoes and how important QE has been in my life since I left.”

Zainul Jafferji,  who took a Master’s in Economics (MPhil) at Cambridge, told Year 12 members of the Economics Group about applying for, and studying, Economics at Cambridge; he set out career paths, and he explained how to think like an economist.

On his first visit, he told members of the Economics Group about Cambridge’s Economics admissions process. Not only had taking a diverse range of A-level subjects (Mathematics, Economics, Physics, German) given him an edge and enabled him to stand out from the crowd, but his German is useful even today when he is advising German companies in his role as a Management Consultant, he said.

He urged the boys to start researching universities and courses early, suggesting they use the School’s online alumni network, QE Connect, to speak to OEs before applying. This was doubly important for Cambridge where the choice of college is important: he advised researching a college’s financial situation, location and, perhaps most importantly (!), menus, before applying.

Zainul stressed the importance of regularly reading The Economist and other Economics literature to prepare for interviews and advised the boys to hone their speaking skills by getting involved in debating and taking LAMDA speaking examinations.

He concluded the session by telling the boys to expect an intense, independently led course at Cambridge:  they would be either alone or in small groups in their tutorials and so would have nowhere to hide if they had not prepared correctly, he advised.

In week two, he outlined the four main career paths for Economics undergraduates: investment banking, management consulting, public policy and further study.

University of Cambridge career fairs begin three weeks after term starts, and applications for ‘Spring Weeks’ (an Easter internship) start soon after. It was, he said, important to apply early for “ferociously competitive” areas such as banking and consulting.

Zainul was able to secure a Spring Week at Royal Bank of Scotland in his first year. (He maintained that the bank’s financial collapse soon after, in 2008, was despite, rather than because of, his work there!)

In his final session, Zainul spoke on critical-thinking skills. He outlined the key skills required to think like an economist and to construct powerful, compelling arguments.

Students then split into three groups, looking at topics covering macroeconomics, microeconomics and econometrics. One group tackled the most current of issues: the impact of sanctions on Russia on the UK economy. He helped them to move beyond CPI as a measure and to better understand the worry of a wage-price spiral taking hold.

Afterwards, Economics teacher Sheerwan O’Shea-Nejad  said: “Zainul has been an excellent guide for the students through the process of choosing a university, thriving there, getting a job and excelling once employed.”

In his virtual talk, Zain Gulamali, who read Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Warwick, said boys should start at university as they meant to finish, rejecting any thoughts of “the first year doesn’t count so I will work harder in the second and third years”.

He advised them to start applying for work experience immediately: there was no such thing as bad work experience, since even a boring placement could show them what to avoid.

Zain previously worked at an accountancy firm to qualify as an ACA accountant, but is now employed in the finance department of multi-national mining company Anglo-American.

He warned of the dangers of ending up in an unfulfilling repetitive career just to earn a large salary and impress others.

In his talk, which was also delivered online, Bristol graduate Yemi Falana related how he had switched from Medicine to Economics at university. He said frankly that his parents were keener on Medicine than he was.

Yemi stressed the importance of applying for internships early – even during A-levels. His included two with Goldman Sachs, where he then went on to take up a full-time post as an analyst in 2018.

Now an Associate with the investment bank, he advised researching the work-life balance and job security of different roles carefully, remarking on how he works shorter hours than the deal-making teams, and appreciates the opportunity to have more of a personal life.

Three interns from the University of Connecticut helped deepen boys’ knowledge of American healthcare at a meeting of QE’s Personal Finance Society.

Pupils heard about the high costs and complexity inherent in the US system, with the session ending in a discussion of the pros and cons of healthcare on both sides of the Atlantic.

The meeting was organised by Ugan Pretheshan, who runs the society along with fellow Year 11 pupil Roshan Patel with the aim of helping boys manage their finances both now and in the future in their adult lives. Other topics covered in its meetings include buying a house and maintaining a good credit score.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “I am grateful to our three current interns, Evan Burns, Nathaniel Austin-Mathley, and Ben Duncan, for their contribution to this meeting and to our enrichment programme more generally. Our relationship with the University of Connecticut extends back over a number of years and it is great that we can again welcome interns this year. It is a connection which gives us fascinating insights into the differences in pedagogy and educational culture between our respective countries.

“Their presence allows boys here to more readily make international comparisons and to understand different contexts and policy approaches: the opportunity thus to interrogate a different system is valuable, not least in helping pupils think critically about our own systems.”

“I congratulate Ugan and Roshan on their work with the society: like other pupil-run societies, it is of great benefit both to those who lead it and to those who attend. The Personal Finance Society complements the work of my colleagues who teach topics such as personal finance and other life skills through formal programmes of study, such as QE’s Personal Development Time programme.”

During the meeting, which was overseen by Economics teacher Sheerwan O’Shea-Nejad, the three History interns spoke extensively on American healthcare, telling the boys that it is a complex system that leaves many suffering, both physically and financially.

US healthcare spending grew 9.7 per cent in 2020, they said, reaching $4.1 trillion, or $12,530 per person. As a share of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, health spending accounted for 19.7 per cent.

“It was eye-opening to understand the complex and diverse methods of insurance and financing these large hospital bills,” said Ugan. The boys attending learned that insurance companies dominate US healthcare industries, presenting American citizens with a welter of quotation pathways and options – encompassing premiums, walk-in fees and ‘deductibles’ – that can be very difficult to understand. The contrast with the relative simplicity achieved by the NHS system in the UK was highlighted.

The meeting also heard a story about what a woman who had got her leg caught between a train and the platform in the US told onlookers: “Don’t call an ambulance. It’s $3,000. I can’t afford that. Call an ‘Uber’.”

Asked what they would do in such a medical emergency in the UK, the boys responded that they would not hesitate to call an ambulance.

The interns, who are supporting the History, Politics and Religious Studies departments this term as part of their Master’s programme, happily answered boys’ questions, before the meeting concluded with a weighing-up of the advantages and disadvantages of both systems, with arguments about price, accessibility and waiting times all factors in the debate.

Mukund Soni (starting Year 12) took first prize in the national Young Financial Journalist Competition with his impressive analysis of the decline of cash.

His carefully researched essay beat hundreds of other entries to take the top place in the 14-15 age group, drawing fulsome plaudits from the judges.

Mukund won £150 for himself as well as ten free places for QE pupils on the London Institute of Banking & Finance’s Lessons in Financial Education programme. The competition was run by the LIBF in collaboration with the Financial Times.

In his appraisal, FT columnist and TV mathematics expert Bobby Seagull wrote: “Excellent article! With a clear, nuanced view about how society might transition to cashless and a judicious use of data to back up key points! Sometimes, younger writers try to convince readers through an over reliance on stats, but this didn’t do that.”

His fellow judge, Claer Barrett, an award-winning journalist who has been the Editor of FT Money since 2015 and Consumer Editor at the FT, was equally impressed: “A fantastically well-researched piece on the decline of cash, which drew on international examples – and some from ancient history – to hammer the main points home.

“Highlighting the increased costs that small businesses face from using card payment and contactless machines instead of cash was particularly insightful. As well as what happens with digital payments if your phone runs out of battery!”

An abridged version of Mukund’s 830-word essay was published in the FT and he appeared in a LIBF podcast with his Economics teacher, Gus Ornelas.

Mukund, who this month was awarded a level 9 grade in his Economics GCSE, as well as eight other grade 9s and one grade 8, explained how he had benefited from taking part in the competition: “It was interesting to look at the topic in more detail, and I gained a much greater understanding of the benefits of a cashless society. I also think some of my other skills – like researching, finding good sources, referencing them and writing an extended piece – they increased quite a lot!”

Congratulating him, Dr Ornelas said: “This was a skilfully executed piece of writing in which Mukund not only investigated the reasons for the decreasing use of cash, but also highlighted the considerable problems that a cashless society presents.”

• Read Mukund’s article in full here

Sixth-form economists turned out in force for a lunchtime Zoom talk on ‘Covid-19 and the Economy’ from a leading Oxford economist.

The speaker, Michael McMahon, Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford and Senior Research Fellow at St Hugh’s College, is a leading expert on communications in central banks. His interests also lie in monetary economics, fiscal policy, business cycles, and applied econometrics. He worked at the Bank of England for many years and now serves as a member of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council.

Professor McMahon is also a Lead Editor of the Economics Observatory, a website that seeks to make economic research and government policy accessible to the general public, to which his latest contributions have focused on understanding the effect of the current pandemic on the UK economy.

His talk was given to QE’s Economics Group: Advanced Lectures – an enrichment activity targeted at those wishing to read the subject at the best Economics departments in UK universities. It was organised by Economics teacher Gustavo Ornelas-Almaraz following an initial approach to Professor McMahon by Year 12 pupil Ethan John. After Professor McMahon finished his presentation, there was a short period for questions.

Dr Ornelas-Almaraz praised the strong attendance at the event, especially given that it was held on a Wednesday – a day when many of QE’s sixth-formers are free to leave early. “The talk was both well attended and well received by our Year 12 economists. “

“They were particularly attentive to the portions of Professor McMahon’s lecture in which he laid emphasis on how the current economic situation will impact young people as they are thinking about their job prospects for the future.

“In all, it was an interesting and timely talk to our Economics students, and I am grateful to Professor McMahon for the time he spent in preparing and delivering his presentation; we have invited him to visit us in person in Barnet when the time is right.

“I have shared the resources that Professor McMahon provided amongst the students, and I am sure they will use them in their preparation for their A-level exam next year.”

Economics is a popular choice of degree subject at QE. Of this year’s 39 Oxbridge offers, seven are to read Economics at Cambridge, while one boy has an offer to read Economics & Management and another to study Politics, Philosophy & Economics, both at Oxford.