Essay Competition

The Marshall Society

 “The ideas of economists… both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood… Indeed the world is ruled by little else” 

    J. M. Keynes (General Theory, 1936)

Essay Competition 2024

The Marshall Society Essay Competition for 2024 has officially opened!

We are proud to announce that the 2024 Marshall Society Essay Competition is being sponsored by Cambridge Global Connect.

Sponsor

Cambridge Global Connect are a subsidiary of Oxbridge Global Connect, an award-winning education technology platform and research think tank founded at the University of Cambridge that offers premier tutoring services.

Marshall Society Essay Competition 2024

The Competition

The Marshall Society, the economics society of the University of Cambridge, is excited to launch its 2024 essay competition! This is an opportunity for all students who have not begun their university studies to demonstrate their ability to write a convincing and well-structured essay. Emphasis should be placed on sound explanation of economic theory and well-reasoned, original arguments, drawing on relevant real-world evidence.

Participants are invited to submit an essay response to one of the following questions:

    1. In the face of disinflation, policymakers are hesitant to reduce interest rates. Is this in line with economic theory?
    2. What are the causes and consequences of low fertility rates in advanced economies? How can we combat them?
    3. Is the attention economy necessarily harmful? 
    4. To what extent is a merger between two big firms beneficial to consumers?
    5. “In an efficient market, at any point in time, the actual price of a security will be a good estimate of its intrinsic value.” – Eugene Fama. To what extent does this apply today?
    6. Why did Britain choose to return to the $4.86 gold standard rate in 1925? Was this the right decision?
    7. Has the field of Economics become too mathematical? Is this a problem?

Writing the essay

Your essay should be written in English with good grammar and structure. We will evaluate your essay based on the logic and persuasiveness of the arguments presented, the quality of the evidence used to support your points, and the originality of your ideas.

Your essay should be properly referenced, citing all sources along the way. It is recommended to use the APA (Author, Year) style of citation in the text. (For example, “The persistence of high unemployment rates is mainly associated with rigidities in the labour markets (Bertola and Rogerson, 1997).”)

Please also provide a bibliography, where you list all your sources at the end of the essay. Don’t worry too much about sticking to one citation format for this; spend your time writing your essay instead (although look to the APA format as a guide for this). Just make sure all the information needed to verify your sources is in here.

Before submitting your essay, do a word count. Words in your bibliography and in any data tables don’t count towards the limit, but everything else does, including footnotes. The limit is 1,250 words (we will check!). We put a word limit so you can focus on what the really important aspects of the question are. Because of the limit, you shouldn’t worry about providing a complete overview of the topic; rather, focus on getting a really good insight into the key aspects, with facts to back it up. You may assume that the judging panel have a basic understanding of the question topic, i.e., there is no need for lengthy definitions or background information.

Finally, some notes on style:

  • Include page numbers on every page
  • Format your essay in Times New Roman, size 12, with line spacing 1.5
  • On the first page, include the question, question number, your name and your school.

Use of Generative AI

The use of Generative AI programmes, such as ChatGPT, is not prohibited in producing your essay, and you will not be penalised for fair usage. However, any use of AI must be declared on the form used to submit your essay. All essays will be passed through software which detects plagiarism and the use of AI, including where passages have been produced by AI and manually rewritten. Any essays found to have used AI without proper declaration will be disqualified.

Submitting

Use the submission form below to submit your essay. Do not email your essay to us: we will not read it if you do!

If you encounter any issues while submitting your essay via the Google Form below, please email jg2107@cam.ac.uk at least 48 hours prior to the deadline.

We have extended the deadline for submissions to Sunday 18th August 2024, 11:59pm BST. Late submissions will not be considered.

Before submitting, please convert your file to a PDF and change the file name to “[your name] Q[question number].pdf”. (For example, “Adam Smith Q4.pdf”). Make sure this is no larger than 10 MB in size.

Judging

Competition results will be published on the Marshall Society website by late-August 2024. Prizes are as follows:

First place: £100
Finalists: £50
Commendation: No monetary prize, awarded to excellent submissions shortlisted for finalist.

Selected winning essays will be featured in the Marshall Society’s annual publication, The Dismal Scientist.

Terms and Conditions of Entry
Please also observe that by entering you agree to the terms and conditions listed below:

    1. Your submitted essay must be your work alone and any assistance given to you must be declared in the form used to submit your essay. This includes the use of Generative AI software such as ChatGPT.
    2. You cannot make any revisions to your essay once it has been submitted.
    3. Only students who have not started an undergraduate degree can enter. Please note that you do not have to be studying in the UK to enter.
    4. Any personal data relating to entrants will be used solely for the purpose of this competition and will not be disclosed to any third parties for any purpose without prior consent.
    5. The essay that is entered may not be entered into any other competition.
    6. The winner, runners up and those with shortlisted essays will be contacted via the email used to submit the essay. Unfortunately, any other feedback will not be possible to any of the entrants.
    7. The Marshall Society reserves the final right, where necessary, to make amendments to the above terms and conditions and to select the winners of the competition.

We look forward to reading your submissions!

Jing, Research Director 2024/25
Chiara, Magazine Editor 2024/25

Submit your Entry