Shrewsbury School Economics Conference 2025

King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys was delighted to attend Shrewsbury School’s Economics Conference 2025. The theme of the conference asked the question if “Free Markets Are Doomed to Fail”. Attending alongside 60 young economists from four schools, the auditorium was filled with a buzz of excitement and anticipation.

We were extremely glad to hear from Dr Christopher Snowdon (head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs) and Julian Dean (Councillor for Shropshire Council) as keynote speakers. They kicked the conference off with passionate speeches arguing diametrically opposed perspectives.

This was then followed by a student team debate on the motion reflecting the conference theme. The teams comprised students from Shrewsbury School and the other schools that attended. The audience, who were gripped by the debaters’ arguments and enthusiastic with their questions for the debaters, had the final say, voting for the winning team for the proposing motion.

In the afternoon, we heard from two more visiting speakers who joined Dr Snowdon and Julian to form a panel from all across the political spectrum to answer and debate questions posed by students. Shrewsbury School welcomed Sterling Rosado of Harvard and Will Kenyon of PwC. This Question Time event was chaired by Mr Zafar of Shrewsbury School as he managed a healthy discussion controlling and directing questions from our students.

Throughout the day Handsworth Grammar School students provided the panel and audience with amazingly insightful questions on the use of AI, youth employment and world politics related to the theme of the conference itself. All in all, this day proved to be both extremely informative and enjoyable for all attending.

By Daniyal Mehmood