YEOTY 2021 Virtual National Awards Ceremony
Due to Covid-19, our planned awards ceremony in UCD could not take place. Instead, we will be holding our virtual awards ceremony 'live' on Thursday 20th May @ 7 p.m. The live ceremony can be viewed on YouTube on the link below or you can watch it here!
Some of the winning entries can be found below. More projects will be uploaded over the next few weeks.
PDST Young Economist of the Year 2021 Winning Entries
Overall Young Economist of the Year
Amy Bellew, Lois O'Hare, Osarugue Edomwande, Abby Rice, Aoibheann NiFhearaigh, Sophie Begley from Our Lady's College, Greenhills, Drogheda
Project: Imperial Economics - The Winds of Change
Teacher: Aileen Hanratty
Description: We examine the economic policy of Great Britain during the early 20th century through the lens of the Disney Musical 'Mary Poppins'. We consider the role of the Empire's colonies in generating wealth for Britain and the degree to which it relied on environmentally and socially unsustainable means of production. We also evaluate the impact of the prevailing laissez-faire system of capitalism on the welfare of the British working classes. We then review the vulnerability of the banking system to unforeseen shocks. And finally, we question whether the classical model of economics was sustainable and could withstand the social and political upheaval of the next two decades. We conclude that a more proactive model, as proposed by Keynes, would be needed. claimed.
Central Bank of Ireland Award
Luke Diggin from Killorglin Community College, Kerry
Project: What impact have central banks and monetary policy had on inequality?
Teacher: Lisa Cahillane
Description: In the past thirty years, income and wealth inequality has hit record levels in Western nations. There is a myriad of elements influencing what has been a thirty-year march of history into our current position. Several factors have been posited for this stark and startling growth, from globalisation to technology to tax reform or the decline of trade unions. In the wake of the financial crisis, many turned their ire in a different direction: banks. While most of this was simplistic, economically illiterate bluster, some important questions were asked, in particular about the role central banks play in creating or exacerbating income and wealth inequality. Recently, some central bankers have even conceded that their work has distributive effects (Matthews & Torres, 2020).
The coronavirus pandemic has elevated and entrenched inequality within society. It has also led to yet more expansion of the role in central banks. At no other time in history have inequality and monetary policy been so relevant and so entwined in one other.
My research question, inspired by this, is “What impact have central banks and monetary policy had on inequality?”
To answer this question I will first examine the theory behind monetary policy’s relationship with inequality, before researching a real-world affect of these theories on the Irish economy.
IGEES Overall Award
Saskia Kirkland from Saint Andrews College, Dublin
Project: Income inequality throughout the pandemic; how the elasticity of hand sanitizer and face masks are an example on income inequality due to the pandemic
Teacher: James Doyle
Description: My project is all about income inequality throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March 2020 all of our lives have been completely transformed by the pandemic, and the restrictions surrounding it. however, it is clear that these restrictions have had a disproportionate effect on lower-income earners, who have endured the worst of job losses. my project aims to highlight the effect the pandemic has had on widening income inequality, by analysing how the PED of hand sanitiser and face masks have changed since the start of the pandemic.
Senior Environmental and Sustainability Award
Saskia Kirkland Fergal Francis from St Andrews College, Dublin
Project: "How effective has Irish Government policy been in reducing consumption of non-electric cars and incentivising the usage of electric cars; what happens next and what can the government do?"
Teacher: James Doyle
Description: In recent years we have, unfortunately, seen the extent of the negative impact humans have on our planet. The increase in CO2 and other harmful emissions caused by traditionally fueled petrol and diesel cars is destroying the earth. In this crisis we turn to the government to help us protect the environment. We wanted to find out what policies the Irish government has introduced so far, and which have been most successful. We did this through looking at how the market equilibrium for electric and non-electric cars changed in reaction to the policies. However, we wanted to gain a deeper understanding of how these policies impacted consumption patterns. To do this we analyzed the PED, YED and XED of electric, hybrid, and traditionally fueled cars. By comparing the elasticities before and after the policies were introduced, we were able to see exactly how well they worked and provide recommendations for the government on future policies.
Junior Young Economist of the Year
Hugo Phelan from Glenstall Abbey
Project: The Economics of Space Investment
Teacher: Mairead O'Sullivan
Junior Environmental and Sustainability Award
Daniel Scally and Paul Conway from Tullamore College
Project: What are the economic impacts of climate change and renewable energy for Ireland
Teacher: John Lowndes
Description: Climate Change and the economic implication of climate change is the focal point of our project along with renewable energy, as these are topics that we feel attention must be drawn to urgently. We are extremely passionate about promoting and conserving a healthy environment so that we, as humans, can live sustainably and in unity as a species, on a clean, green planet, without constant fear of the onslaught of natural disasters