On Tuesday 10th March, Sixth Formers were once again lucky enough to hear from leading economist, Professor Patrick Minford CBE.  An economic adviser to the government for several years, as one of the co-called ‘Six Wise Men’, Prof. Minford is an eminent Monetarist who is currently Professor of Applied Economics at Cardiff University.   Now somewhat of a regular and friend of the school, Prof. Minford also sponsors, an eponymous prize for ‘Excellence in Economics’ for Year 13 pupils at HMSG.  On this occasion, he explored an issue very close to his heart – the EU.  As ever, he gave an extremely informative, yet lively and humorous talk covering the EU and the Euro, questioning the UK’s membership.  Firstly, he covered the huge costs associated with being in the EU and indicated that being in ‘the club’ actually reduced free trade, due to the use of external tariff (CETs) that all EU members are duty bound to use.  He then walked students through what he feels is an inevitable route if we were to stay in the EU…adopting the Euro.  Prof. Minford suggested that we need to ‘reset’ our relationship with the EU, which he compared to a ‘troubled marriage’.  Once again Prof. Minford left students in no doubt what his views are on the matter.  However, in a Q&A session, students challenged some of his views and this led to a meaningful discussion in what will undoubtedly be a hotly debated topic in the run up to the election.