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Schoolboy, 11, commended by top economists for Greek debt solution

A Dutch schoolboy’s solution to the Greek debt crisis has been recognised by the organisers of one of the world’s most prestigious economic prizes.

Jurre Hermans, 11, submitted an entry to the Wolfson Prize, which is awarded each year by the British think tank Policy Exchange.

The judges were impressed enough to give him a special mention when the shortlisted essays were announced and a voucher for €100.

The pupil from Breedenbroek, in Gelderland, designed a ‘drachma machine’ which would allow Greece to reinstate the old currency and pay off its euro debt.

Greeks would then either use the machines to convert their old euros into new drachmas, or be hit with a fine for the amount of euros that they had left over.

Jurre supplied a diagram of his drachma machine and an explanation in English of how it worked. His father admitted to helping him with the English translation.

He wrote: ‘I am quite worried about the euro crisis and look at the TV news daily. The euro crisis is a big problem. I think about solutions.’

He compared the Greek debt to a giant ‘pizza of money’, which he said could be paid back if all the euros collected through the drachma machines were handed over to the country’s creditors.

The Woolfson prize is worth €300,000 and the second most valuable prize in the world of economics after the Nobel award.

Source: Het Financieele Dagblad: Nederlandse jongen (11) gelauwerd voor oplossen eurocrisis

Photo by squidpants

See also: Wolfson Economics Prize website