Lower VI and Upper VI Economists virtually attended a conference hosted by Oxford High School, which is famously known to have taught Maggie Smith. Even though the conference was not about Harry Potter, instead it taught us about the invigorating world of economics- which is infinitely better!

There were four very experienced speakers who presented their different areas of expertise in macroeconomics. Firstly, we listened to Dr Jennifer Castle of Magdalen College talk about the importance of forecasting and predicting data for macroeconomic indicators- such as GDP (the value of an economy) growth rates. It explained how in reality, data may not follow their extrapolated trends – such as when we were hit by the COVID pandemic, which could leave economists scratching their heads on what to do next. I specifically gathered that experts in the field have to master speculation in order to reliably predict future economic trends. 

Then Paul Johnson, Director of the IFS, expanded on the fiscal events in the UK over the years. The term ‘fiscal’ means how a government manages its spending, public borrowing, and tax revenue. He expressed his opinions on the ‘bleak’ state of the UK economy as he described it as ‘the worst 15 to 20 year period (after the global financial crisis in 2008) since the Napoleonic war’. This was eye opening as he expressed facts and figures that the news doesn’t necessarily go into.

Then Dr Christopher Bowdler of Oriel College and Helen Thomas (CEO of Blondemoney) expanded outside the curriculum, as Dr Bowdler went in depth about the causes and consequences of the global financial crisis, and Helen Thomas described Liz Truss’ actions on the UK economy. 

Overall, this experience was incredibly enriching as it has given us the opportunity to learn more about economics outside of the classroom, and to ask more questions and challenge ideals. 

Shriyaa Deepak, Upper VI