- Dutch boy singled out by Wolfson Economics Prize
- 11-year-old creates pizza-themed solution to euro crisis
Jurre Hermans, an 11-year-old Dutch boy, poses with the drawing he submitted for a competition for the break-up of the euro. Picture: AP Source: AP
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AN 11-year-old Dutch boy enjoyed a slice of global recognition after his pizza-themed solution to the euro crisis was singled out for special merit by organisers of a contest seeking ways to wind up the single currency.
Jurre Hermans, a schoolboy from Breedenbroek in the east of The Netherlands, submitted a single-page sheet solution to the euro crisis, accompanied by a hand-drawn diagram complete with a miserable-looking Greek, to the organisers of the Wolfson Economics Prize.
Funded by British businessman Lord Wolfson, the chief executive of the Next clothing chain, the contest offers a £250,000 ($385,000) prize for the best idea on how to exit the troubled euro without bringing down the global financial system.
Young Jurre outlined a plan in which Greece exited the euro, resumed using the drachma and was forced to pay back its debts. In turn, the returned money was sliced up like a pizza and repaid to investors.
"All Greek people should bring their Euro to the bank. They put it in an exchange machine (see left on my picture). You see, the Greek guy does not look happy!! The Greek man gets back Greek Drachme [drachmas] from the bank, their old currency," the budding economist wrote.
He added, "The Bank gives all these euro's [sic] to the Greek Government. All these euros together form a pancake or a pizza (see on top in the picture). Now the Greek government can start to pay back all their debts, everyone who has a debt gets a slice of the pizza. You see that all these euro's [sic] in the pizzas go the companies and banks who have given."
The clever part, he continued, involved forcing the Greeks to accept the plan.
Foreseeing that Greeks would opt to keep their euros instead of taking drachmas that would rapidly decline in value, Jurre offered a tough line, adding, "So if a Greek man tries to keep his Euros (or bring his euros to a bank in an other country like Holland or Germany) and it is discovered, he gets a penalty just as high or double as the whole amount in euros he tried to hide!!!"
Organisers gave a special mention to Jurre, and a €100 ($128) prize, but he did not make the five-person shortlist.
Lord Wolfson praised the quality of all the submissions. "Sadly, the risk of a country leaving the eurozone has not gone away. The ideas contained in these entries are an invaluable contribution to tackling this important issue. I am incredibly grateful to everyone who made a submission and look forward to awarding the prize this summer."
