FCDO Next Generation Economics competition 2024 winner announced
Source: gov.uk (2025-02-04)

Avi Juneja, a student at Queen Elizabeth School, has been named the winner of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Next Generation Economics 2024 competition.

FCDO’s Chief Economist Adnan Khan with the competition winner, runners-up and shortlisted entrants at the Foreign Office in London.

2024’s competition invited UK school students to write a letter to the FCDO’s Chief Economist on the biggest economic challenges facing their generation. The competition saw a high calibre of essays from 573 entrants.

Questions posed to students were on the work of:
- Nobel Laureate Claudia Goldin in relation to female participation
- developing countries capitalising on critical minerals
- mitigating food security risk
- debt and its implications for investment
Competition winner Avi Juneja argued in their essay for the use of State Continent Debt Instruments and increased transparency around debt, such as through minimum disclosure requirements, to alleviate the challenges faced by countries with high spending on debt interest. The essay used a range of economic theory, analysis and examples to create a compelling argument.

Two competition runners-up have also been announced.

Matt Smith’s essay proposed that developing countries could best benefit from growing demand for critical minerals by improving the quality of institutions, increasing the efficiency of regulation and promoting greater openness to trade.

Arushi Sharma’s essay argued that provision of training schemes in sectors where women are underrepresented, and subsidies for childcare, would incentivise increased female participation in the economy.

Five other entrants’ essays were also shortlisted:
- Keshav Aggarwal’s essay proposed policies to increase female participation in the economy; providing accessible microfinance schemes, reforming secondary-earner taxation, and gender-neutral parental leave
- David He’s essay argued that the use of buffer stock schemes and more sustainable fertilisers could help to tackle food insecurity
- Kelly Lam’s essay proposed an increase in financial support for the childcare sector, and improvements in flexible working arrangements, to increase female participation in the workforce
- Jacob Stone’s essay argued that unsustainable public debt levels could be improved by policies increasing the transparency around sovereign debt held privately, improving international debt-relief mechanisms, and reforming the tax system
- Jacob Yousaf’s essay proposed that improving farming methods and providing tax incentives for firms to switch to renewable energy, would improve global food security
The winners, runners-up and shortlisted entrants were invited for a tour of the FCDO building in October 2024, and they visited (and met with representatives from) the London School of Economics (LSE).

The Next Generation Economics competition will return shortly for 2025. To be notified of the competition start date, you can register for competition updates (MS Office Form) (https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=09Ci08h8Uk-7-YW9Q9lCedy8Rpce28hNlqVepERFkRpUMUY2MVRENE4zVlkwTk5YRE05ODgwQ1dZRy4u).

Find out more about previous competition winners: FCDO Next Generation Economics competition 2023 winner announced (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-next-generation-economics-competition-2023-winner-announced).