The SSLP Young Economists' Conference 2024

The SSLP Young Economists' Conference was back for its fourth year and its biggest iteration yet with 250 students from 9 schools at Dulwich College for a day of talks and a General Election themed workshop.

We were delighted to welcome two fantastic speakers in the morning: Dr James Smith CBE provided an exceptional talk on his work leading the Aegis Peace Fund, explaining how social enterprises can be used to help promote peace and development, focusing on their work in Rwanda. Shabana Jamil of the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero then followed up with a really engaging talk outlining her career in the Government Economic Service and  more latterly her work leading a team making a market in Hydrogen in the UK to help us meet our Net Zero targets. Having listened to these two outlines of really important economic interventions, the emphasis then shifted to the students who were all asked to evaluate the General Election manifestos of one of the three leading UK parties, before suggesting how they would advise their given party to adapt their economic policies. Our four finalists presented to the conference in our plenary session and it was a group consisting of five students from Alleyn's and Harris Academy East Dulwich that won the audience vote for the best economic analysis of the day.

Many thanks must go to our fantastic speakers, and all of the students and teachers involved today for making the conference such a success. We look forward to next year's event.