This past month saw the Dublin University Student Economic Review (SER) annual debates take place. These were held in collaboration with the College Historical Society (The Hist), Trinity College Dublin and The University Philosophical Society (The Phil). The debate teams were from University of Cambridge and Harvard University.
What began as a singular debate in 1996 has since expanded into an annual tradition, attracting world-class debates from Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Yale to engage with Trinity College Dublin peers on some of the most pressing economic issues of our time.
The Cambridge debate took place on the 19th February; it focused on the impact of tax havens on the working class. The Harvard debate took place on the 27th February; it centred on decoupling from the US economy - a topic which has gained relevance over the past few weeks.
Cambridge and Harvard were ultimately the victors of their respective debates, with both teams providing pertinent insights into the current state of economic affairs. Trinity nonetheless performed excellently against their opposition and spoke passionately with striking insights, including Henrietta Vanni of Team Trinity, who was awarded the John O'Hagan medal for Best Speaker after the debate with Harvard.
Both debates were overseen by a judging panel, including Rowena Dwyer and Kingsley Aikins, and the Department of Economics' own Paul Scanlon. After both debates the judges commended all the speakers, as well as the audience for the enlightening discussion and keen engagement in such pivotal issues of economic discourse, marking a fitting conclusion to the 2025 SER Debate Series.
Next up on the SER calendar is the Journal Launch on the 27th March 2025. We hope to see you there!
[from left to right] SER Committee Members: Piotr Gorecki, Thea Clare, Jack Davy, Clodagh Gaffney, Conor O'Kane, Alison Good, Aoife O'Connor and James Carey.