Meeting and Learning from Professor Dr Anna Watson



Fitzwilliam Buildings Recognised by ...

It was a great opportunity to be invited to Cambridge on Wednesday to meet with professor Watson a Fellow and Director of Studies in Economics at Fitzwilliam College, to be presented with a certificate of commendation on one of the essay competitions that I took part in.

Whilst making our way to her office, I was impressed by the peaceful and rather scenic atmosphere at Fitzwilliam, compared to the rather busy campus at King's and Trinity that we saw earlier in the day. We were later told that the location was actually where Charles Darwin's wife lived in, before they donated their estate to the university. During our walk, I could not help but ask more about her recent research in world trade and protectionism. It is a topic that interests me, but something I know little about compared to her. Anna explained the concept so well, focusing in on multiple reasons for why Trade is so restricted, rather than simply just blaming it on Trump.

We arrived at Anna's office and I asked more about her career and what made her want to go into research, and how she ended up getting an internship at the bank of England, instead of working in the private industry, where there are potentially more opportunities to make money. It was insightful to hear her reflections on her career, especially at her time at the Bank of England and the advice she gave, in terms of reading, research, and reflections which would make me a strong candidate when it comes to interviews.

After receiving more invaluable advice on Interviews, Reading lists, and life at Cambridge in general, we talked about the world of policymaking, and the importance of forward guidance in maintaining confidence. I made a cheeky reference to quantitive easing and its effect post pandemic into contributing to inequality within the UK before I cunningly asking a recent favorite question: what are the drivers of wealth inequality, and what can be done to solve it? I was really impressed by Anna's answer, as I quite liked the way that she explained how the bank of England is set to improve economic growth as a main target and not worry about other things; make a bigger pie. She then talked about how, on the other hand, fiscal policy is definitely an effective approach to tackle inequality. 

We ended the meeting with a huge amount of advice and ways to prepare for Cambridge and was given a really nice amount of resources to explore further. An amazing day out, with a lot to learn from and even more to reflect on.

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