Christian Newey
Economic Intern, Commerce Commission
Bachelor of Business in Economics
He knew quite early on that he wanted to study economics, says Christian Newey who came to AUT to study a Bachelor of Business in Economics.
“I was in Year 9 and was 14 years old when I found myself fascinated by economics in high school. Past that point, my time at high school was about taking the subjects I knew would help me on my way to study economics – for example economics, maths and English – and then filling the rest with what I enjoyed.
“At the end of Year 11, I learned that it was possible to leave for university with strong enough grades at NCEA level 2, and so decided that I didn’t want to wait to do my economics degree and began searching for the university where I could study at. I knew that I wanted to stay in Auckland, at least for my undergraduate degree, and so narrowed my search to two universities and was surprised that I was accepted at both. I ended up choosing AUT after advice from my cousins who told me that AUT showed a lot of care for its students and as such would be a far better place for me to study as I was younger than others and a bit closed off as a person.”
He says he thoroughly enjoyed his studies at AUT.
“I’m always excited by different aspects of economics, and the AUT professors and the learning environment seemed to share in the same sort of fascination with the topic. The conversations with my lecturers and the other students led to chances to grow an understanding of the topic beyond the textbook, and the respect that was shown to students by the academic staff only helped facilitate this. I love economics, and the best part of studying at AUT was that the university seemed to share that love for economics as well.”
Experiencing life as an economist
For Christian, being able to do economics research while he was still studying gave him a taste of what a career as an economist could be like.
“I participated in the iTape programme over the summer of 2022/23 under the guidance of Professor Matthew Ryan, Dr Pik Yi Lydia Cheung and Associate Professor Peer Skov. That really felt like my first experience as a proper economist. This research project enabled us to decide what type of investigation we wanted to do, providing valuable experience into what research in economics is like. The chance to engage in research and testing, empirical coding and theoretical modelling really let me see what being an economist is like, and I fell in love with the topic all over again.”
Since then, he also had the opportunity to apply his passion for economics through an internship at the Commerce Commission and he is just finishing postgraduate study at another university before his economics career will fully begin.
“My work as an economic intern was focused on research and analysis into regulated markets, in particular the analysis of ‘rocket and feather’ pricing in petrol the Commission undertook. I enjoyed learning new economics models and forms of analysis, and then figuring out how to best utilise it for the work I was doing. Economics is a subject where you can constantly be learning and my work at the Commerce Commission allowed me to do that. Seeing the response of people to a report I played a part in is a bit surreal. It seems like I’ve been able to have a real impact on something, and seeing how it has grabbed people's attention gives it a special feeling.”
Advice for other students
Christian – who graduated from AUT in 2023 – has some great advice for other students.
“Never stop learning. Whether it be academically or personally, university is a chance to find what you love and start your journey, but is by no means near the end of that path.
“You’ll always learn from those around you – students, professors or colleagues – and each and every step along your journey is a chance to grow and discover more of what you love. You’ll always discover more and maybe find something more interesting than what you were looking for in the first place. Learning is an ongoing thing, and it’s worth always being open to more.”
