Trade policy now forms a larger portion of public discourse than it ever has before.

With Brexit, Covid-19 supply chain disruptions, inflation, environmental policy and aggression from geopolitical adversaries such as China and Russia, students, academics and the public are rightly devoting more attention to trade policy. Issues such as sanctions, tariffs and bureaucracy have entered the public consciousness, and yet the quality of discourse around them has scarcely improved.

Our second annual essay competition aims to engage students and the public and reward intelligent, constructive and persuasive arguments on issues of International Trade. Questions are designed by IFT fellows to be approachable from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, including politics, philosophy, economics, trade law, jurisprudence, psychology, history and sociology. Questions are also designed to be approachable and stimulating for essayists with a range of qualification levels, from GCSE and A-level through to undergraduate level.

Essayists will be judged by our panel of examiners on knowledge and understanding of their chosen topic, the competent use of evidence, quality of argumentation, originality, structure, scope, writing style and persuasive force.
The second Institute for Free Trade annual essay competition is OPEN will close on Friday, October 18th 2024.

Essay Competition

Registration and submissions are open to all candidates UK-resident and over 16 years old via this link. Submissions must be made before midnight on the 18/10/2024 here, or to info@ifreetrade.org

Prizes

Prizewinner:

• £350 prize and certificate
• An in-person meeting opportunity to discuss your essay.
• Publication of your essay by the IFT.
• Honorary Fellowship of the Institute for Free Trade.

Runner up:

• Runner-up certificate
• Publication of your essay by the IFT.