Young economist competition 2021 results

Congratulations to Schalk-Willem Burger ("The Upcoming Actuary") from Stellenbosch University who placed as the top SU team, and second overall, in this year's Young Economist Competition (pictured above).

Each year, the Die Burger Young Economist Competition puts first-year economics students head-to-head with the aim to predict economic variables such as CPI inflation, real GDP growth, commodity prices, and exchange rates. The enthusiasm and insight shown by the students amidst a challenging and uncertain economic environment was indeed inspiring. In first place was Parvez Parker ("Gold Standard") from the University of the Western Cape, who told us he was quite surprised to win (or even reach the top ten) as he only entered the competition because he was interested in applying theory learned in class to a real-life application. The third place went to Sibusiso Mbuyazi ("Prime Capital") from the University of Cape Town.

Many thanks to our sponsor, Die Burger, for hosting the virtual awards ceremony and for providing the prizes to the winners. To all the remaining teams who placed in the top 10, well done on a fantastic effort - we were impressed with your insight and grit! Thank you to all the students who took part in the competition, and all the best as you continue forward in your studies, and in forging a deeper understanding of Economics!

(Thanks to Lindi Boltman and Hylton Hollander for contributing to this article's text.)