Economics encompasses the intricate crossroads between quantitative analytics and problem solving with abstract soft skills and intrapersonal connections. This so-called ‘quantitative study of people’ has deeply intrigued Lambert senior Neal Karani since he first entered the field through the Wharton Global Investment Competition. Through primarily the National Economics Challenge, and other organizations such as the Economics Club at Lambert, Project YouthFinLit and Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), he’s shown his strong love for the activity.
“I really love to learn,” Karani explained. “Competitions give me a chance to test how much I’ve learned and the practicality of the knowledge I’ve learned.”
Karani is filled with ambition to achieve high. Last year, he and his team of five others placed second at the World Economics Cup, which featured competitors from 47 countries across the globe. While it was already considered a significant achievement, it still wasn’t enough for Karani, who is determined to secure first place this year. The competition is project-based, where collaboration and teamwork is essential for victory.
“We really carefully select members for the team,” Karani noted. “We do tryouts, we make sure people can work on a team, we want people that are skilled, knowledgeable and can bring fresh ideas.”
During these competitive tryouts, Karani does not look for mere statistics on paper or the most impressive resume. Instead, he focuses on the member’s ability and willingness to learn new information and their true passion.
As the president of the Lambert Economics Club for the 2024-2025 school year, Karani has big goals in sight for the future and a clear vision of what he wants to provide to the Lambert community. This includes expanding the scope of the opportunities that they provide and creating a learning platform in addition to the competition team.
“We directly teach the members, we let them do research sometimes, stuff like that to get them more immersed in economics,” Karani said.
Moving forward, Karani plans to major in economics in college, and eventually be able to apply his work to public sectors in order to serve his community. He is also extremely interested in philosophy, and he wants to find ways to incorporate that with his love for economics. As markets fluctuate, one thing’s certain: Neal’s passion for economics will always be flourishing.
