Unfortunately this is being postponed until 2026-27: the questions will remain the same for continuity.

 

If you would still like to contribute this year please send in your submission to csep.docs@gmail.com - we would love to hear your ideas and may be able to publish some of the best in a limited capacity!

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Below are the questions for the 2025 edition of the competition:

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Please Note: 

• The essay should be between 1500 and 2500 words (excluding citations, bibliography, footnotes, headers etc.)

• Please include a bibliography and references to your sources throughout. As long as it is clear, the style does not matter, but Harvard-referencing is preferred.

• The use of Generative AI is not banned, however we would prefer it if you ensured any use was a complement to the creativity of your own argument, rather than a substitute. Whilst GenerativeAI may be used to generate ideas or refine your work , it may not be used to write any part of the text included in your submission. If it is used, it must be declared, or you may face disqualification. CSEP reserves the right to disqualify any essays that we suspect have violated the above conditions without notifying candidates.
   

 Questions from the postponed 2025-26 competition:

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1) “Free movement of labour between states is a necessary condition for free markets. The full possibility of markets to generate wealth cannot be realised in absence of this freedom.” Discuss.

 

2) "Gentrification is a natural consequence of capitalism, and the costs of opposing it is too high to justify intervention." Discuss.

 

3) “Unpaid care work being predominantly taken on by women is a result, rather than a cause, of unequal financial outcomes between men and woman.” Discuss

 

4) Can the failures of mathematical modelling to predict economic outcomes be addressed solely through further refining mathematical models and incorporating larger data sets?

 

5) “The Great Moderation was a result of monetary policy, and similar monetary policy could be used to return the US and other major economies to a similar period of macroeconomic stability.” Discuss

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CSEP remains dedicated to the discussion of alternative economic ideas and values any contribution to the diversity of economic thought. Economics as a discipline must be continuously examined and adaptive if it is to serve any purpose as a framework prescribing current planetary conditions.