Harvard International Economics Essay Contest (HIEEC)

1. Introduction

The Harvard Undergraduate Economics Association (HUEA) is organizing its flagship Harvard International Economics Essay Contest in collaboration with the Harvard College Economics Review. HIEEC allows students to demonstrate an accomplished level of writing and understanding of economic theory. Students hone their academic and professional skills through the contest and exhibit their knowledge.

2. Harvard International Economics Essay Contest Topic:

Environment: As climate change intensifies, governments and corporations are turning to carbon offset markets and nature-based solutions (like reforestation or carbon capture) to meet emission targets. Yet critics argue these mechanisms allow wealthy nations and firms to “buy their way out” of real reductions, while creating new inequities for developing economies.

Prompt: Evaluate the economic and environmental effectiveness of carbon offset markets as a tool for reducing global emissions. How might these markets influence international trade, investment, and development? Should countries prioritize direct emission reductions over offset schemes, or can both coexist effectively? Propose economic policies that could enhance the credibility and fairness of global carbon offset systems.

Inequality: The rapid rise of generative AI and automation has sparked fears of a “productivity boom without wage growth,” where capital owners capture most of the benefits. Some economists propose implementing a universal basic income (UBI) or data dividend to redistribute the value created by automation.

Prompt: Analyze the potential of universal basic income or data dividends as policy responses to technological inequality. What economic trade-offs might arise from decoupling income from labor, and how could these affect long-term growth, innovation, and social cohesion? Consider how different income groups and countries at varying levels of development might respond to such policies

Workforce & Education: Hybrid and remote work, accelerated by global digitalization, has reshaped labor markets and urban economies. As geographic proximity becomes less critical, cities face shifting housing demand, changing tax bases, and new infrastructure needs.

Prompt: Examine the long-term economic implications of a global shift toward remote and hybrid work. How might this transformation affect productivity, urban inequality, and educational priorities? What role should governments and institutions play in balancing the benefits of flexibility with the risks of labor market fragmentation?

Crypto/Finance: Amid rising debt levels and global inflation uncertainty, some governments have explored issuing tokenized sovereign bonds or blockchain-based currencies to improve transparency and accessibility. Yet such innovations raise questions about security, regulation, and the role of private intermediaries.

Prompt: Assess the economic and financial stability implications of tokenized government bonds and blockchain-based public finance systems. Could such technologies democratize investment and improve fiscal transparency, or do they introduce new systemic risks? How should central banks and regulators adapt to a financial system increasingly built on distributed ledger technology?

3. Prizes

• The top three winning essays will be published (with the author’s permission) on the website.
• A finalist list of the top submissions will be published online and adjudicated by a real-world economist.
• A list of names that will receive the “Highly Commended” distinction will also be published online.