Macroeconomics

I am an assistant economist at HMRC, having graduated from the MSc Economics course at UCL with a Distinction in 2018. Prior to this I graduated from the University of Exeter with a BSc in economics, first class honours in July 2017. I am truly passionate about academic economics, and my desire to pursue the subject to the highest possible level by undertaking a PhD is strong. Postgraduate study has given me a solid foundation in the three core areas of the discipline: microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics, and I demonstrated a proficiency for the subject by obtaining a distinction in 6 out of the 7 modules as well as achieving one of the highest marks of the whole cohort in the dissertation. I feel I am in a good position to be able to hone these skills even further to a very advanced level in a PhD before using what I have learned to produce interesting, influential research in the field of macroeconomics.

Macroeconomics is my main research interest, and I enjoy the way it blends theory with empirical data to create models which are enlightening about real world phenomena. I find the contemporary work of macroeconomists at UCL such as Vincent Sterk, Morten Ravn and my former dissertation supervisor Franck Portier extremely interesting and relevant in explaining a wealth of macroeconomic phenomena, including the Great Recession of course. I have consistently demonstrated academic excellence in this field, highlighted by achieving a mark of 86% in my MSc dissertation and a mark of 85% in the Macroeconomic Policy module taught by Morten Ravn. My dissertation blended both empirical and theoretical macroeconomics, as I used time series methods to investigate the effect of the BeaudryPortier news shocks on US labour market variables before reconciling these results in a calibrated DSGE model in the style of Diamond, Mortensen and Pissarides. The process of engaging with the research frontier was highly fulfilling and it certainly showed me that I would like to pursue further macroeconomic research. Taking the Advanced Macroeconomic Theory module gave me a fantastic grounding in heterogeneous agent macroeconomics, which represents a significant and important component of the field's future and is something I plan to incorporate in my future research. I very much look forward to delving deeper into these topics and building further key skills during the MRes component.

I feel that I have demonstrated the necessary balanced skillset crucial to become a successful academic economist, succeeding in microeconomics and econometrics also. I achieved a distinction in the respective core exams of both these subjects and excelled in the quantitatively focused Research Methods module which demonstrates my aptitude for mathematics so integral to achieving highly at the PhD level and beyond.

After completing the PhD I plan to enter a career in academia, and I know that UCL has an excellent track record of producing exceptional job market candidates making it an ideal place to study. UCL is an outstanding institution with a world class economics department. I have loved studying here for the MSc course, and feel that I could flourish further in the MRes and into the PhD. I believe that the combination of my strong academic track record, with particular evidence of achievement in producing original research, combined with my work ethic and passion for the subject makes me a great candidate for the MRes in economics at UCL.