Fraser Institute Student Essay Contest

Showcase your ideas on public policy and the role of markets by entering our essay competition. Each year the Institute holds a competition for students, designed to encourage and develop student writers.

1. $2,250 in cash prizes awarded each year.

2. Special category for high school students only.

3. Winning essays may be published in Fraser Institute journals.

STUDENT ESSAY CONTEST 2012

Prizes
1st Prize: $1,000
2nd Prize: $750
High school category: $500

Topic: “Are the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer?”

With the occupy protests dominating the headlines in 2011, attention focused on economic inequality and the redistribution of income. Is government intervention necessary to improve people’s lot in life or, through hard work and determination, can individuals move up the income ladder on the basis of their own efforts? Is there a permanent divide between income groups – that is, are people born into certain income groups in which they live their entire lives? What’s more important, equality of opportunity or equality of outcome? What’s a fair distribution of income? Can government enforced redistribution schemes impact people’s incentive to improve their economic position independently?

Your essay should use historical perspective, empirical evidence, and economic analysis to examine these or other questions regarding economic inequality.”