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Politics, Philosophy and Economics Personal Statement
I have enjoyed economics and current affairs discussions for several years. After my first year of economics at school I became interested in understanding how the theoretical structures we were taught had evolved over time and I read A History of Economic Thought by Lionel Robbins, focusing on the chapters on Adam Smith, Locke and Mill. Subsequently I started to read extracts from The Wealth of Nations (Book I so far). I could see how Smith mapped out the foundations of liberal economic thought, and I was especially interested by his chapters on natural prices of commodities and his implicit attempt to find justice in economic life. Subsequent chapters discuss Smith’s Labour Theory of Value; I found his distinction between values and prices of particular interest, even though the former concept feels rather elusive. Smith’s Invisible Hand principle provides an elegant cohesion to his model of the economy. This cohesion has broken down today and the current crisis illustrates how far we have strayed from Smith’s self-correcting economy. I enjoyed the contrast between Paul Krugman’s representation of the market in The Crisis of 2008 with Smith’s concept of a purer market that works towards the common good. I explored this topic further in an essay on the current economic crisis, in which I concluded that the current economic failure is not entirely that of the market economy, but in large measure, I believe, a failure of the regulatory bodies charged with supervising economic activity.
I wanted to gain a first perspective on political philosophy and I read An Introduction to Political Philosophy by Jonathan Wolff. This sparked my interest to read Locke’s Second Treatise of Civil Government and I found the discussion of the rights of the individual and the role of the state as relevant today as it was to Locke. We are experiencing an ever-expanding public sector and I found it useful to understand how Locke justifies the legitimacy of the state. I was curious to see how this legitimation had evolved over the subsequent three centuries and I read Mill’s On Liberty. It seems to me that Locke was accommodating to the role of the state provided it acted for the good of society. Mill, on the other hand, seems to adopt a position of an active crusade for the individual with his critique of the tyranny of the majority and his somewhat elitist praise of the eccentric individual pursuing his private interests. The tyranny of the majority has some resonance today in certain political regimes in the Middle East, prompting some personal research on the influence of political structures on economic development in the region. My conclusion was that democratic structures stimulate greater economic development in the Middle East. This experience however is not necessarily borne out in other countries, China in particular, and I would like to study more about this topic in the future.
I am entering the Blumenau Philosophy competition and will write an essay on “God does not play dice, but nature does”. This topic appeals to me and I will try to reconcile the two concepts – God and Nature. These concepts have a fairly clear and established meaning in the context of Judaism, in which I have been brought up, but in a philosophical discussion closer definition and greater rigour will be necessary, and it will be interesting to challenge belief with analysis.
I have had useful internships over the past two summers; with two financial firms and a financial media company. In my extra-curricular activities, I led the school Jewish Assembly, which helped me to better understand and communicate topics in a weekly lecture. I have also participated actively in school and club tennis, and I was a member of the Under 18 Great Britain tennis team for the Maccabi Games, a quadrennial Jewish Olympic Games, in July 2009. I am also involved in charitable work for a soup kitchen and for an organization for underprivileged children.
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