YEI EventEconOlympiad

Get the chance to earn prizes, network with like-minded peers, and learn from engaging speakers while putting your knowledge of economics to the test. Cooperate in a team-based competition to unravel solutions to current economic issues.

Interested? EconOlympiad is open to ALL middle and high school students! Submit your presentation by May 1st at 11:59pm PST.

Prompt

Submit

Rubric

Event InformationWhat is EconOlympiad?

EconOlympiad is a competition focused on not just the knowledge of economics, but also the application. It has a presentation round in which you and your team will have ten weeks to develop and submit a video that responds to a provided prompt.

Professors from the country’s top economics programs will serve as judges.

Presentation Round

Competitors will have up to three week to create their presentation up to 10 minutes in duration. There will be a prompt that focuses on economics concepts. Your group will have a chance to research the prompts, take a position, provide facts to support your argument, and use your reasoning to tie it all together.

Prompt

Rising prescription drug prices have led to discussions about using price ceilings, an economic tool that can lower costs for patients but may also lead to reduced supply and/or weaker incentives for the development of new treatments. Policymakers need to balance these possible benefits and drawbacks while considering how any approach would affect affordability, access, long-term costs, and equity. Your team is presenting to officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, and your presentation should explain the economic impacts of price ceilings, weigh other solutions, and offer a clear path forward.

Finished your presentation?

Upload as an unlisted video to YouTube and submit below!

EconOlympiad

Key Dates

February 15th, 2026: Prompts released (asynchronous).
February 15th, 2026 - May 1st, 2026: Prepare presentations (asynchronous).
Groups will have 10 weeks to research, collaborate, and record their presentations.
May 1st, 2026: Upload and submit your video by 11:59pm PST on May 1st.

Prize

The winning team receives YEI's bid for the International Economics Olympiad. This refers to our official endorsement for a team to participate in the IEO. The IEO is a prestigious annual international competition for high school students in economics and finance. Since participation requires an organizational endorsement and each organization may send only one team, our bid serves as the formal support needed for entry.

2025 Winners

1st: Lambert Economics
2nd: BCP Team 1
3rd: Team Cougars

About the Judges

Derek S Stimel

Derek S Stimel is an Associate Professor of Teaching Economics at UC Davis. Read his bio.

Piotr Dworczak

Piotr Dworczak is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at Northwestern University. Read his bio.

Frequently Asked Questions

: This is a team competition. Each team must have 3 to 4 members. If you haven’t found a team yet but would still like to compete, you can join our grabbag channel within our Discord Server specifically for team matching.
: Students in middle school or high school, including international students, are eligible to participate!
: After creating your presentation, upload it onto the submission form and you will automatically be registered as one of our participating teams!
: No, EconOlympiad is open to everyone! If you would like to become a YEI chapter, however (which we highly recommend — there are so many benefits!), you can fill out the club registration form .
: No, you and your teammates do not have to be from the same school, state, or even country! Given that the competition is completely virtual, interschool and interstate teams are permitted, and even encouraged for EconOlympiad. However, be sure to still list all schools/states/countries in the form, separating each with a slash.
: Competitors will have three weeks to work on their video pitch presentation. For top teams, scores from this round will be combined with scores of the debate round to determine the EconOlympiad champions! Otherwise, scores from the presentation round will be used to determine rankings.
: You will need a Zoom account to attend the opening ceremony, debate round, and awards ceremony. A device capable of recording is required for creating the presentation.
: EconOlympiad is absolutely free (the only cost is the opportunity cost of not participating)!
: Email events@theyei.org.

Testimonials

Hear what our past competitors have to say!

"The staff and judges were highly professional, providing us with many different learning opportunities."

"The instructions and the way the event flowed was perfect!"

"I really enjoy this initiative and cannot wait to participate in it during future years. The staff and proctors were great and so were the guest speakers/judges."

EconOlympiad Sponsors