The Department of Economics
F
irst and foremost, the department would like to thank all of our Sixth Form economists for continuing to excel in what was a very challenging year. Despite the pandemic, the students remained fully engaged in the subject throughout this period and produced some outstanding work during school closure. We welcomed a new member of staff to the department, Andrew Sykes, who has added both his experience and knowledge to the team so that we continually improve our practices. At the end of the year, we saw the departure of Head of Department, John Greenwood. Mr Greenwood is very much part of the furniture at St. Olave’s and his contribution to the Economics department has been quite incredible. For well over a decade, he has inspired cohort after cohort to explore Economics beyond the syllabus with his unique and exciting teaching style, caring personality and love of the subject. He will be sorely missed by us all and we wish every success for the future.
John Greenwood
S___Head of Economics
Discover Economics and Black History Month The department collaborated with Discover Economics to produce a video to encourage young black students to study Economics. Discover Economics campaign to increase diversity in Economics, with the aim of having economists from minority backgrounds represented in key roles in government departments and the Bank of England. Sheena Akende, Ayomide Akande, Gloria Asiegbu and William Awomoyi spoke about their love of the subject and their advice to students considering studying the subject. This video was used nationwide and I have no doubt that the words of these four students will inspire others to follow in the same path as them. Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics The Year 12 economists undertook a project studying the Doughnut model, a 21st century economics framework designed by Kate Raworth. The model challenges society to meet the needs of all within the means of the planet and is a response to traditional economic models which 92 – Olavian 2021
have neglected the negative impact of economic growth on the environment. Students were asked to develop a summary of the model, but most importantly come up with three steps as a household to play their part in the fight against climate change. This included only buying what is necessary, re-using or repairing items, buying locally, eating more sustainably, reducing energy consumption and driving less. All of these initiatives were incredibly inspiring to read and show the value that our students place on the future of our planet.
The Olavian Economist As the world moved online, our student economists set up our first ever blog. Every week, students from the department wrote articles on real world issues facing the discipline which were then shared with fellow Olavians. It provided an excellent platform to enrich students and showcase their amazing talents. At the end of the year, we produced another issue of our annual Olavian Economist publication which focused on the pandemic. This included articles titled, ‘Covid-19: A Threat to Women’s Economic Security’, ‘The Inequality Infection’, ‘Mental Health: The Shadow Crisis of Covid19’ and a number of interviews with academics from the Economics discipline. Political Economy Society Due to the bubble system, for the first time ever the society had to run separately for Year 12 and Year 13. However, this had little impact on the quality of talks throughout the year, with students pushing the boundaries of the subject by delivering a host of fascinating presentations on a range of topics.
