Written by Chris Weatherspoon | 12 February 2012
Posted in Features - News

On a cold Friday afternoon in the final week of January, 170 hardy students sweep inside, away from the bracing winter weather, and settled down for the inaugural Warwick Economics Summit (WES). Though the audience is primarily made up of University of Warwick attendees, roughly 40 have made the journey from further afield, intrigued and enthusiastic. That was in 2002. Ten years on, Warwick is preparing for its eleventh Economics Summit – and this one looks set to be the biggest yet.

And while this little corner of the Midlands remains the sole venue for WES, its reach has now spread far wider than any could have imagined back at the start of the previous decade. Last year's event attracted visitors from 56 universities in no less than 17 different countries, including the likes of Brazil and Russia. This year, following the sell-out of tickets in record time, organisers are expecting the 400 delegates in attendance to be of an equally diverse nature.

It is not difficult to see the appeal of WES. Year on year, a stellar cast of speakers has captivated audiences packed full of budding economists. Previous line-ups have included the likes of Alistair Darling and Professor John F. Nash, winner of the 1994 Nobel Prize for economics.

This coming weekend sees no downturn in quality. Rounding things off on Sunday afternoon will be George Akerlof who, after Nash, becomes the second Laureate to grace the event. Akerlof, renowned for his work on information asymmetry and efficiency wages, is a considerable coup for the WES team.

However, he is not the only speaker worth listening to at this year's event. Also taking the stage in Warwick's Ramphal Theatre will be Rufus H. Yerxa – Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Steven Landsburg – author of bestseller, The Armchair Economist, and Governor Lamido Sanusi of the Nigerian Central Bank – a man featured in TIME magazine's 2011 List of Most Influential People – to name just three.

Alongside those aforementioned, WES 2012 has a whole host of names lined up to fill what is sure to be an enlightening weekend. As well as the talks by various speakers, the summit will also offer delegates the unique chance to connect with some of the economics world's important players, through various seminars and networking events throughout the three-day event. Most anticipated of all, perhaps, is the summit's prestigious Summit Ball on Saturday evening, a formal event that has proven to be the highlight of many previous years.

Of course, none of this could come to pass without the enthusiasm and hard work of those behind the scenes. This year's WES has come together via the work of a hefty 45-strong team of students, with that team consisting of seven interdependent subsections. The sheer number of people involved is evidence of the mammoth the summit has become in such a short time.

Leading that team through the undoubted myriad of pre-summit problems and predicaments are its two coordinators, Winston Yap and Stela Bonifacic. The two, both Warwick third-years, are understandably delighted with how preparations have gone so far, and with the list of speakers that has been assembled.

“This year's speakers are truly inspiring,” said Yap. “We are sure our delegates will enjoy the wide-ranging nature of the topics covered.” Yap stated he decided to get on board with WES because of its “incredible reputation for inviting some of the most revered speakers from the spheres of economics, politics and international relations”, a tradition he and his team believe they have ably continued.

Bonifacic is equally buoyant, and expresses her glee over the summit's astonishingly wide appeal: “We are constantly amazed by the number of universities and countries represented at the summit.”

The growth of WES dictated that Winston, Stela and their team would have added responsibility this time around too. In December WES, in conjunction with the University of Warwick International Office, launched the Warwick Economics Summit Bursary Scheme. The scheme, which pays for two students from abroad to attend the summit who would otherwise be unable to afford it, received a huge number of applications.

Bonifacic stated: “It was very hard to choose between the candidates as there were so many excellent applications. We were thrilled to have received so many applications from so far away.”

As it were, the two lucky recipients of the first ever bursaries came from opposing sides of the globe. Harvard University attendee Pulkit Agrawal and Richa Srivastava from the India Institute of Technology in Kampur, both Economics undergraduates, beat out heavy competition, and will now travel thousands of miles to take up their seats in front of an award-winning throng of speakers.

Coordinator Yap commented: “We are delighted that we were able to offer such deserving students the opportunity to come to the summit. We hope the winners will have memorable experiences.”

Given the array of talent on show, it seems difficult to believe they will forget it in a hurry.

 

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