Lingfield College Hosts Dynamic Monetary Policy Conference

On Friday, 1st December, Lingfield Sixth Form hosted an Economics Workshop on Monetary Policy, welcoming students from Oxted School and Skinners for a full-on day of debating and presenting. The Conference 'Are we ready for the Bursting of the Debt Bubble?' was hosted by Dr Tim Evans, Professor of Business and Political Economy at Middlesex University London and has been ranked by City AM as one of the UK’s ‘Top 75’ economic policy thinkers. 

Students found the day incredibly useful in strengthening their understanding of monetary policy.

I was fascinated by his explanation of the Austrian School of Economics and the concept of spontaneous order that can lead to greater benefit for overall activity in an economy.  The rest of our day consisted of working within groups on a monetary policy-related issue, with each group competing for 1^st place, presenting their debates and findings to a panel of judges and an audience. This experience was exciting and enriching for all involved!

James, Year 13 

We started the day by listening to a guest speaker, Tim Evans, where we learnt about government intervention vs free market, in particular, should the free market set interest rates? We were then split into groups and allocated a question which we had to answer and present in front of the rest of the groups, followed by a Q&A.  Our question was, ‘Should interest rates remain higher for longer?’ to which we answered yes. Getting the opportunity to work with other people with differing views was incredibly interesting and allowed me to see other perspectives and approaches to the question. 

Annabelle, Year 13 

Tim Evans' speech on Friday provided students with an interesting and in-depth insight into monetary policy. Evans argued for and against the idea of market-set interest rates and the pros and cons of this idea, which was then argued by students who created presentations based on questions about monetary policy. Students from Lingfield, Skinners and Oxted collaborated to express their ideas and opinions on their chosen question. All students gave a detailed and evaluative presentation, displaying great knowledge. The conference allowed students to gain a deeper understanding of monetary policy and factors that contribute to the policy, as well as a brief background into the schools of economics, building up our understanding of government intervention versus free market debate. 

Matilda, Year 13