Student Essay Contest
2011 PEF ESSAY CONTEST WINNERS
Graduate Winner of $1,000: Jordan Brennan, York University, “Has Free Trade Fulfilled its Promise in Canada? Contesting a “Sacred Tenet” of Globalization Theory”
Graduate Honourable Mention: Rosita Yi Ki Kwan, Dalhousie University, “Alberta Welfare Reform and Employment Outcomes of Welfare Recipients”
Undergraduate Winner of $500: Yilang (Kent) Feng, University of Manitoba, “The Subtle Transformation of Contemporary China – A Study of Chinese Political Economy in the Post-Crisis World”
Undergraduate Honourable Mentions:
Gregory W. Johnsen, Carleton University, “Balancing act: Negotiating global needs and national sovereignty under the Bretton Woods regime”
Laura Husak, University of Manitoba, “The Food Crisis in Context: More than a Problem of Speculation”
Winners were chosen by a panel from the University of Manitoba: Ian Hudson, Fletcher Barager and Robert Chernomas.
PAST WINNERS
2010
Graduate Winner of $1,000: Richard Pereira, Athabasca University, “Economic security in the twenty-first century – Guaranteed Annual Income: An ecological, democratic, justice and food security imperative” (French version here)
Graduate Honourable Mentions:
Richard Togman, Carleton University, “The Russian financial crisis of 1998: How uncontrolled markets and a weak government led to the collapse of a nation”
Thomas Mastoras, Osgoode Hall Law School, “Comity in international political economy: The benefits of trade liberalization”
Undergraduate Winner of $500: Rob Konkel, University of Saskatchewan, “Poverty and HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa: Alternative formulations and integrated intervention strategies”
Undergraduate Honourable Mentions:
Jan Sporina, University of Calgary. “Economic prosperity in developing countries: A necessary or a sufficient condition for democratization”
Benjamin Sawatzky, University of Manitoba, “Stable growth: An examination of the oft-overlooked link between political stability and growth, with special attention to the Kenyan experience”
Winners were chosen by Marc Lavoie and Mario Seccareccia from the University of Ottawa.
2009
Graduate Winner of $1,000: Ryan Katz-Rosene, Carleton University, “Tar Sands or Tarred Sense: The Political Economy of Environmentalist Thought”
Graduate Honourable Mention: Salimah Valiani, Carleton University, “Temporary Migration and the Global Integration of Nursing Labour Markets–the US American Instance”
Undergraduate Winner of $500: Derek Carnegie, University of Toronto, “SARB Monetary Policy and South African Financialization”
Undergraduate Honourable Mention: Kellina Higgins, Quest University, “An Economic Proposal to Decrease Agriculture’s Impact on the Environment”
2008
Graduate Winner of $1,000: “Healing a Crisis of Overaccumulation: How Canada’s Public Health Care System is Being Undermined through Accumulation by Disposession” by Heather Whiteside (Simon Fraser University)
Graduate Honourable Mention: “Swedish Child Care and Parental Support Programs – A Defense” by Adrian Scotchmer (written while at Queen’s in the MPA program; now at Osgoode Hall, York University in the LLB)
Undergraduate Winners of $250 each:
“In Pursuit of Sustenance: The Search for Food Security in the 21st Century” by James Barclay Frey (University of Manitoba)
“Ensuring Equality: Guaranteed Annual Income and Democratic Legitimacy” by Evan Rosevear (York University)
2007
Graduate Winner of $1,000: XinYing Hu, Simon Fraser University, “The Rise of Precarious Work for Women in Countries as Different as China and Canada”
Undergraduate Winner of $500: Nick Falvo, York University, “Alternative Approaches to Addressing the Lack of Affordable Housing in Canada”
Undergraduate Honourable Mention: Peter Steele-Mosey, University of Guelph, “Arresting the downward trend in the earnings of new immigrants to Canada. An analysis of the problem, and a prescription for policy”
2006
Undergraduate Winner of $500:
“Should the Central Bank be Independent?” by Zacharie Liman-Tinguiri, University of Ottawa
Graduate Winner of $1000:
“Globalization, Corporatization and the Organic Philosophy: Social Sustainability in Question” by Lisa F. Clark, Simon Fraser University
Graduate Honourable Mentions:
“Getting to the Source of Water Scarcity in Alberta” by Jeremy Schmidt, McGill University
“The General Agreement on Trade in Services and Canadian Federalism: A Threat to Public Education?” by Jennifer Keefe, Simon Fraser University
Winners were chosen by a three-person panel: Marc Lee (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-BC); Jim Stanford (Canadian Auto Workers Union); and Fletcher Baragar (University of Manitoba)
2005
Undergraduate Winners of $250 each:
“A Case for Government Owned and Operated Film Theatres in Canada” by Amy Graham, Brock University
“Neoliberalism and the Political Economy of War” by Bruce Guenther, University of Winnipeg
Graduate Winners of $500 each:
“The New Consensus in Monetary Policy: What Role for Post-Keynesian Theory?” by Marcel Turcot, Carleton University
“Lies, Damned Lies, and Trade Statistics: The Import Content of Canadian Exports” by Erin Weir, Queen’s University
Winners were chosen by a three-person panel: Rhonda Kimberley-Young (President of the Ontario Secondary Teachers’ Federation); Arthur Donner (President of Arthur Donner Consultants); and Hugh Mackenzie
2004
Undergraduate Winner of $500: “The deregulation of the telecommunications industry” by Erin Wilson, Concordia University
Graduate Winner of $1000: “Pressure from without, subversion from within: the two-pronged German offensive” by Daniel Kinderman, Cornell University
Winners were chosen by a three-person panel: Ronald J. Bodkin (distinguished retired Professor, Department of Economics, University of Ottawa); Bruce Campbell (Executive Director, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives); Morris Miller (Adjunct Professor, School of Management, University of Ottawa; and former Executive Director, World Bank)
2003
Undergraduate Winner of $500: “An Economic Story: Analysis of Howard J. Sherman’s Nutcracker Theory of Profit Squeeze and Its Ties to Post- Keynesian Economics” by Brandon Schaufele, University of Ottawa
Graduate Winner of $1000: “What Happened to Home Economics?: An Essay on Households, the Economy and the Environment” by Catherine Leviten-Reid, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Winners were chosen by a three-person panel: Cy Gonick, (Editor, Canadian Dimension); Anna Rothney (Economist, Community Economic Development, Manitoba); Todd Scarth (Executive Director, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Manitoba)
2002
Undergraduate Winner of $500: “Economics, Ideology, and Elections: The Political Economy of Saskatchewan Oil Royalties in the 1980s and 1990s” by Erin Weir, University of Regina [Diagrams that accompany the paper are available as a separate PDF file here]
Winner was chosen by a three-person panel: Marjorie Cohen (Professor of Political Science, Simon Fraser University); Michael Liebowitz (Economics Professor, Simon Fraser University); Gideon Rosenbluth (Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of British Columbia, and past president of the Canadian Economics Association).
2001
Undergraduate Winner of $500:
“The Free Market Fails Children: A Discussion of Market Failure and Possible Correctives for the Canadian Child Care System” by Daniel Rosen, McGill University
Undergraduate Honorable Mention:
“NEP to FTA: The Political Economy of Canadian Petroleum Policy in the 1980s” by Erin Weir, University of Regina
Graduate Winners of $500 each:
“The Janus-faced Nature of Working-time Reduction: Between Rationalization Whip and Instrument for Social Justice” by Daniel Kinderman, York University
“Living in the Age of Exclusion: The Impact of Corporate Globalization on Rural Communities” by Jennifer Sumner, University of Guelph
Winners were chosen by a three-person panel: David Foot (author of the best-selling Boom, Bust and Echo and Professor of Economics, University of Toronto); Thomas Walkom (economist and columnist with the Toronto Star); Barbara Cameron (professor of women’s studies at York University).
2000
“It Happened but not Again: A Minskian Analysis of Japan’s Lost Decade” by Marc-Andre Pigeon, New School University
Honourable mentions:
“Building a New Strategy for the Left Around Capital Controls” by Richard Lennon, York University
“Driving International Environmental Co-operation: The Role of Incentives in the Creation of the Montreal and Kyoto Protocols“ by Michael Lisowski, University of Toronto
“Challenging the Corporate Law Tradition: A Socialist Feminist Critique” by Veronica Wylie, Osgoode Hall Law School
Winners were chosen by Mel Watkins (Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Toronto); Linda McQuaig (author and columnist); Sam Gindin (former Research Director of the Canadian Auto Workers)
2011 Essay Contest Rules
Deadline: April 30, 2011
ELIGIBILE ENTRANTS
➢ Open to all Canadian students, studying in Canada and abroad, as well as international students presently studying in Canada.
➢ The definition of “student” encompasses full-time as well as part-time students.
➢ Students eligible for the 2011 competition must have been/be enrolled in a post-secondary educational institution at some point during the period of May 2010 – April 2011.
LEVELS OF COMPETITION
There are two levels of competition
➢ One for undergraduates
➢ One for graduates*
*Note: Entrants who have previously completed a degree, and are returning to do a second undergraduate degree, will be considered for the graduate student competition.
CONTENT OF THE ESSAY
➢ Entries may be on any subject related to political economy, economic theory or an economic policy issue, which best reflects a critical approach to the functioning, efficiency, and social and environmental consequences of unconstrained markets.
ELIGIBLE SUBMISSIONS
Eligible entries will be…
➢ …postmarked (if hard copy) or emailed no later than April 30, 2011
➢ …the only submission by the author (i.e., one submission per person).
➢ …between 20-40 pages in length, and typed in 12-point font, double spaced.
➢ …referenced to academic standards (including any data)
➢ …written in either English or French
➢ …original, single-authored essays that do not infringe upon the rights of any third parties
➢ …accepted on re-submission once
➢ …accompanied by a completed PEF Essay Contest Submission Form (Word file)
➢ …sent by email to hudsoni@ms.umanitoba.ca, or if hard copy, to:
PEF, c/o Ian Hudson, Department of Economics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 5V5
Entrants consent to having the Progressive Economic Forum publish winning essays and those receiving honourable mention. Each applicant will submit a valid e-mail and postal address for correspondence.
ADJUDICATION
➢ A panel of judges selected and approved by the Progressive Economic Forum will judge entries.
➢ Entries will be judged according to the following criteria: substance and originality, writing style, composition, and organization.
➢ The Progressive Economic Forum reserves the right not to award a prize or any prizes where submissions do not meet contest standards or criteria.
WINNING SUBMISSIONS
➢ The winning essays will be announced at the Annual General Meeting of the PEF.
➢ A cash prize of $1,000 will be awarded the winner of the graduate competition; and $500 will be awarded to the winner of the undergraduate competition.
➢ The winning essays will be published on the PEF website.
➢ Judges’ decisions are final.
