Posted: Friday 26 November 2010
Economists on Target
Is there an elephant in the room? This was the question posed by a group of four S6 economists in a presentation to the Bank of England. The four pupils - Ross Davidson, Alastair MacMahon, David Henderson and Victor Mo - were taking part in the prestigious 'Target Two Point Zero' competition run annually by the Bank of England in conjunction with The Times newspaper.
Their stance was very much on target, as they won the regional heat in Edinburgh and now prepare a second presentation for the area final to be held in Manchester in February.
The pupils' premise revolved around the conflict within economic circles over the state of the economy. One group believe there to be significant evidence of a potential inflationary problem in the pipeline. The other firmly believe that deflationary pressures dominate the economic landscape. Each group feel that their argument has a clear and obvious foundation (hence, the elephant in the room). Currently, the only line taken by the monetary authorities is to steer the 'centre course' which was the recommendation by the team of four at this event.