About YESM

Young Economist Students’ Meet is an initiative pioneered by the students of the Department of Economics, Jadavpur University. It is where economists of tomorrow meet and debate upon existing ideas, and create new ones. The meet features a number of exciting competitive events for school and college students to participate in, along with guest lectures, and a panel discussion, by eminent economists and academicians. The objective of the meet is to bring together students and scholars of Economics on a common platform, thereby offering opportunities to young minds to broaden their horizons of knowledge, by interacting with each other and with the stalwarts of the field. At YESM, students explore uncharted territories - both creative and academic, in the study and application of Economics.

Theme

The theme for YESM 2018 is ‘MEETING THE CHALLENGE OF DR. KALAM’S VISION: 2020 AND BEYOND’. The theme takes inspiration from Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam’s Vision 2020 - a blueprint for a developed India. At YESM 2018, we attempt to appraise our progress as a nation, in making Kalam’s vision a reality - how far have we come, and what remains to be achieved. The underlying idea is that as students of economics, we have the potential to contribute much to the growth of the nation, not just as ‘armchair critics ‘of existing policies, but as actual policy makers. At YESM’18, we explore ways to do just that.

Considering India’s core competencies, we are focussing on the following areas: agriculture and food processing, education and healthcare, infrastructure development with regard to access to energy for all parts of the country and information technology. We also propose to discuss the disturbing trend of ‘growth sans development’ with regard to the Indian economy, and possible solutions to the problem, so as to ensure that high growth figures are accompanied by a decent standard of living for every Indian. In addition, we shall be appraising Vision 2020 in light of recent national and international political and economic upheavals, such as demonetization, GST and Brexit. We hope to include in the discussion issues such as:

• Optimum balance between government intervention and privatization;
• How much foreign investment to allow, and in which sectors; and
• Impact of possible barriers constructed in skilled labour markets by first world countries.

Department of Economics