Macleans College student showcases talent at Australasian Economics Olympiad

Year 13 Macleans College student Aaron Huang (Rutherford House) recently represented New Zealand at the Australasian Economics Olympiad (AEO) in Sydney.

In June, Aaron was selected as one of five students to join the New Zealand team. He had worked diligently over the past two years to earn this prestigious opportunity.

Before the competition began, the team visited the Reserve Bank of Australia and the New South Wales Treasury. They attended mini-lectures about working at the Reserve Bank and participated in discussions on contemporary Australian issues, including gambling tax and the housing market.

The first round of the Olympiad required competitors to write four extended essays on topics such as cashless societies, universal basic childcare, productivity growth and tariffs. The second round tested their quantitative economics skills. In the third round, teams tackled a case study on industrial policy, proposing industries that their countries could support through government intervention to achieve outcomes beyond market forces.

The event also featured a lecture by Professor Gigi Foster from the University of New South Wales on the role of data in economics.

At the conclusion of the Olympiad, the top three teams were announced: Romania, Singapore and Japan. While the New Zealand team did not place in the final three, Aaron’s dedication and hard work were praised by his mentor Mrs Ladkoo, and the team leader for New Zealand, Mr Jacob Samuel.