Economics Club

The Economics Competition Team (ECOMP) went to the Harvard Pre-Collegiate Economics Challenge on April 2. The A Team, comprised of seniors Spencer Burleigh, Peter Luff, Jeffrey Qiao and Lydia Wickard, placed 3rd out of 47 in the written competition and reached the semifinals of the quiz bowl. The B Team, which was comprised of senior Pranay Vemulamada and uppers Khanh Nguyen, Matt Robbins and Roger Shen, placed 11th in the written competition and made it to the octofinal of the quiz bowl.

ECOMP is an extension of Economics Club,  which is a discussion and learning club that meets every Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Seabrooke Room in Elm Street Dining Hall. At the beginning of each meeting, members are given a briefing sheet created by advisor and instructor of  history Giorgio Secondi and the co-heads, senior Jorge Colemanares, Burleigh and Luff the day before. The sheets give a balanced view of the meeting, which typically centers around current events.

After asking questions about the content of the briefing sheets, the meeting typically continues as a free discussion of the subject. Secondi will intervene at times and offer his insight to help students understand a challenging concept.

“It’s really important to have new club members come forward to learn more about economics.”

Luff, who joined the club because he was a member of the Republican Club and wanted to learn more about economic concepts and theories, said, “The meetings are pretty informal and always intriguing.” 

Each January, ECOMP starts training for two competitions in April, the Harvard competition and the National Economics Challenge. Training involves lectures on Economics that are given by Secondi, practice tests and quiz bowl practice sessions. At the end of March, students are given a comprehensive test to determine who will compete at Harvard and who will be on the “A Team” or “B Team.” Harvard allows only two teams of four people, and this year  its competition included 47 teams from 29 schools from across the world. The tournament consisted of a round robin of four quiz bowl economics matches and an examination.

This was the fourth year that ECOMP competed at Harvard.  The team one first place two years ago. The individual results of the written competition and the National Economics Challenge, which was taken online, are still pending release. Secondi said he finds coaching ECOMP to be a lot of work but also a lot of fun. “The students who participate are passionate about economics, enjoy the learning, but, more importantly, they enjoy the camaraderie,” Secondi said. “There’s a lot of laughing at our practice sessions, and I really appreciate the fact that while the students work hard and like to win, they understand that we’re doing this first and foremost to learn and to have fun,” he said.

Qiao joined Economics Club his prep year with the desire to understand how the world worked. His interest is also the reason why he decided to compete at the competition. He also liked the other people in the group and said  throughout the entire process they developed a stronger and closer relationship with each other. “There is simply so much to learn about how markets work and don’t work and learn about how market forces can drive the macroeconomy,” Qiao said. “Knowing economics is important.”

Nguyen joined the competition because she thought it would be a fun experience and opportunity to learn economics. “I think it’s important to discuss economics because our lives are greatly affected by the economic policies that are put in place,” Nguyen said.

Upper Matthew Robbins joined Economics Club for discussions which can’t be found in a typical classroom. He admits that before coming to Exeter he did not know a lot about economics, and the club discussions have taught him. For Robbins, an important part about the club is that they examine the real world impact of economics. “It’s not just graphs,” he said. “It’s a good thing to talk about the political aspects of econ, and also how it relates to our daily lives.”

Lower Harrison Lian recalled his favorite discussion from Economics Club about Venezuela. “I don’t know that much about South American economics,” Lian said. “It really shed some light onto that and the failures of socialism, for one.”

Lian, who started as a new lower, said that students can participate in discussion without the knowledge of an upperclassman. “Of course, if you’re new you can definitely get intimidated by some of the terms and concepts, but it’s really not that difficult, because it’s such a relaxed environment,” he said. “You can ask any question and the co-heads will be glad to help.”

Prep Andrew Loevinger, who had less economics experience than Lian, said that through attending meetings he has learned many techniques and has broadened his understanding of economics. He agreed that the club’s environment makes it comfortable for younger students. “I’ve enjoyed it mainly from a learning standpoint and less from a conversational one,” Loevinger said. “[your grade] doesn’t matter once you go there—nobody points out the prep in the room. The conversation flows so much that who you are doesn’t really matter.”

Upper Alec Howe encouraged Exonians, regardless of their year and experience, to consider becoming members of the Economics Club. Howe has been a member since his prep year and has been interested in the topic since he was 10.  “I think it’s really important to have new club members come forward to learn more about economics,” he said.  “Honestly, I think everyone at Exeter would do well to join the club and to learn more; economics really does affect everyone, no matter if you’re rich or poor.”