Fraser Institute Student Essay Contest

Showcase your ideas on public policy and the role of markets by entering our essay competition. $9,000 in cash prizes will be awarded with $3,000 of this designated just for high school students! Winning essays may be published in Fraser Institute journals and authors will have the opportunity to experience the peer review process.

Categories and Prizes:

High School

1st Prize: $1,500
2nd Prize: $1,000
3rd Prize: $500

Undergraduate
1st Prize: $1,500
2nd Prize: $1,000
3rd Prize: $500

Graduate
1st Prize: $1,500
2nd Prize: $1,000
3rd Prize: $500

2021 Essay Contest -- The Ideas of Joseph Schumpeter: Exploring the Concept of Creative Destruction

The COVID-19 pandemic created economic disruptions in 2020, forcing many businesses and entrepreneurs worldwide to rethink how they provided goods and services including things like meal delivery by drone to the expansion of on-line learning platforms. While the pandemic will certainly not be permanent, some businesses and industries have closed their doors permanently, while others have innovated and flourished under the new measures to meet changing consumer demand.

The economist Joseph A. Schumpeter, author of the 1942 book, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, is best known for popularizing the term "creative destruction" to describe the entrepreneurial process where, as new innovations arise, the old way of doing things often dies off as a result. This evolutionary process, he asserted, was essential to understanding capitalism.

Construct an essay exploring the importance of Joseph Schumpeter's concept of creative destruction in understanding entrepreneurialism and economic progress in today's world. Entrants may choose to analyze a particular industry or business (during any time-period) as a case study to bolster their essay.