Four of Aquinas’ top Economics students participated in an Economic Forum run by the CCIWA. The forum consisted of an address from James Walsh who is a senior economist at the CCIWA, he discussed the current state of the Western Australian economy and some of the issues we are facing.

Buz Brady led the questions to James with a question regarding our dependence on China’s continued Growth and weather that was wise given the current geopolitical climate. James was impressed with the question as was the crowd.

Steven Kemp the author of the students Economic text book and the ATAR Chief Marker then discussed the trends of the previous year’s examination paper and what he thinks would be some good questions for this year. This is always a lively discussion as the students are all ears for any examination hints. Again the Aquinas students were the first to ask questions with Buz and Ben Warr firing off a few well directed questions.

After a quick snack the students were introduced to a recent graduate economist and a student from Curtin who was in a graduate program working part time at the CCIWA. Their advice for students doing their ATAR examinations this year was invaluable. They basically said, study thoroughly, explore all the options at University and be open to opportunities that develop you as a person.

Finally the students were involved in a team activity, where each table had a current economic challenge to solve. Buz Brady’s team won with a fantastic explanation of the relationship between the exchange rate and the Balance of Payments in Australia. Chocolates all round.

The forum was run by Nick Ognenis (pictured) who is the President of the Economic Teachers Association. Nick is an ex-Head of Hass and Deputy from Aquinas. Nick congratulated the boys on their knowledge and their detailed questioning.

Australia’s economic future and prosperity is going to be in good hands if this forum was any indication of the talented students we are producing.