Welcome to the Department

Welcome to the Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University. We are one of the oldest Economics departments on the continent and one of the largest in the university. We are dedicated to quality research and teaching, with a focus on economic issues pertaining to South Africa and Africa. For any information not on this site, please contact the department.

Policy briefs to disseminate research

The Economics Department formally released its first policy brief on Thursday. The Policy Brief initiative is aimed at creating a wider audience for the research of the Department of Economics. The policy briefs are intended to be a jargon-free summary of a selection of research studies that are policy-relevant or closely linked to public debates. As a rule, the research would be recent work that is not yet published in a journal or a book.

If you are interested in receiving notifications of the release of a new policy brief, please send an email with your name and affiliation to Carina Smit (carina@sun.ac.za). The first policy briefs are available under Research, Policy Briefs or, alternatively, follow the link http://www.ekon.sun.ac.za/policybriefs/2010/

Top students announced

The top students in 2009 in the Economics Department were announced recently at a departmental award ceremony. Melissa van Rensburg received the Economic Society of South Africa (ESSA) medal for the best Honours dissertation in the country in 2008, while Stephen Reid (pictured below with Sophia du Plessis) was awarded the annual Cloete-medal for the best postgraduate student and Genesis prize for the best Honours student. Ignatius Barnardt and Johannes Burger received the first and second prizes for third-year Economics students, while Marianne Knoesen and Francois Kamper came in first and second in the second-year category respectively. Ruhan Meyer was the best first-year student in 2009 with Rachelle Strydom in second place.

Stellenbosch student third in Budget Speech competition

Congratulations to Melissa van Rensburg, who was the second runner-up in the 2009 Nedbank and Old Mutual Budget Speech Competition postgraduate category. Melissa's many achievements include being awarded the ABSA prize for best Honours thesis by the Economic Society of South Africa in 2009, being a Top 10 and Top 20 finalist in the Budget Speech Competition in 2006 and 2007. She was also awarded the Rector's Award for outstanding academic achievement in 2008.

The 2009 finalists were hosted at a banquet in their honour on the eve of the Budget Speech on the 17^th February 2010 and were congratulated for their efforts by the new Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan.  The banquet offered students the opportunity to engage with some of South Africa's most prominent business people and government officials.

Stellenbosch University was represented by no fewer than four top 10 postgraduate finalists, which included Melissa, Jacques Verreynne, Cathy Bashala and Stephen Reid.

The countdown to Stellenbosch 2012 begins

Stellenbosch 2012 was proudly launched at the final plenary session of the World Economic History Congress in Utrecht, the Netherlands on the 7th of August. In a promotional DVD inviting guests to the next World Economic History Congress, the rector and vice-chancellor Russel Botman and Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu invited participants to "explore the roots of development" at the 2012 conference, which is hosted by the Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University and the Economic History Society of Southern Africa. Find more information at www.wehc2012.org.

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