It has been quite a journey for some budding Grammar economists over the last eight months, taking them from the humble HB2 classroom below Big School to the rarefied air of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s boardroom (hallowed ground indeed – we had to relinquish our phones and were accompanied by an armed guard!). It started in Term IV last year when twenty-five boys took a test to qualify as Grammar’s representatives in the Australian Economics Olympiad, a relatively new competition and one in which we were competing for the first time. From this group a ‘Magnificent Seven’ was selected: Sam Brew, Robert Davie, Will Dimopoulos, Manas Gupta, Caleb Kim, Max Lee and Jack Lockhart (all in Form VI). These boys then attended coaching sessions before school and at lunch and studied independently over the next three terms.

The national competition took place on two Saturdays in June. Round 1 was another grueling written test but, to their great credit, all seven boys qualified for the forty spots in the next and final round. This second component was a group presentation (teams of five randomly allocated) involving a cost/ benefit analysis of the many COVID-19 policy responses. Sam Brew and Will Dimopoulos impressed the judges with their knowledge and insight and consequently were selected in the Australian team of five; a fantastic achievement! The International Economics Olympiad was due to take place in St Petersburg but had to be cancelled for obvious reasons. However, the University of New South Wales stepped in to provide the team with various prizes and a visit to the Reserve Bank of Australia. This highlight took place in July and parts of the boys’ reflections are below.