I am exceptionally curious about global political and economic developments, and my aspiration to complete a degree in economics is based around a fervent desire to truly understand the cogs that make the world turn. With the current financial crisis appearing more likely than ever to define the next few decades, economics is, more than ever before, the key to understanding today’s world. This is evident from the fact that, at root, political debates around the world, from Beijing to Berlin, are all focused on one essential question: how to drag the global economy out of prolonged recession and steer it away from impending economic catastrophe. I have taken an avid interest in global economics ever since I began to become economically literate through studying the subject at school and through my own reading of the financial press and works by today’s leading economists. In recent years I have assiduously assessed the arguments of those who see either monetarist policy combined with austerity or further borrowing to stimulate demand as the solution. Paul Krugman’s ‘The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008’ has offered me a particularly persuasive critique of the shortcomings of the present manifestation of capitalism and provided forceful arguments in favour of Keynesian solutions. His emphasis on the parallels between the current crisis and the Great Depression has also been of great interest to me. At the same time, having tracked the fortunes of quantitative easing, I am becoming increasingly persuaded by the arguments of figures such as David Smith of the Sunday Times who argue that the policy has been a failure. Nevertheless, I do still acknowledge that there is a certain amount of merit to the arguments made by those who claim that further borrowing to stimulate the economy as an alternative runs the risk of simply pushing the public finances of countries to breaking point. Questions of what role the government can play in managing the economy and by what methods are enormously important to me, and I hope that by studying economics at university I will gain a solid understanding of both them and other key areas of the subject with an eye to one day pursuing a career as an economist.

My love of economics debates ties in with my overall enthusiasm for debating with others. I have been a participant in several local debating competitions, and I have also attended debating workshops to help sharpen my oratorical skills. With experience and practice I have steadily improved as a debater, to the point where I recently reached the finals of the Inter-Borough Debating Championships on the back of successfully arguing that political figures should not be involved with reality TV programming. Being involved in debating has helped me to prepare for participating in the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative, a program that gives me the opportunity to engage in political matters; I particularly enjoy being involved with the Initiative as it gives young people an opportunity to demonstrate our stake in a range of current political issues.

My ability to successfully communicate my ideas has been improved in part through my part-time work as a customer service assistant at a stationery shop, which in addition to requiring me to provide advice to customers also involves working as part of a team with my fellow employees. I recently participated in a French exchange, something that also tested my linguistic skills. While in France I was particularly interested to discover the similarities and differences between how British and French society had handled the effects of recession. The French exchange is just one of many college initiatives I have enjoyed participating in; I volunteer as a maths tutor to GCSE students, and I also serve as a student coordinator for prospective students, which entails providing advice and information about their possible course choices.

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