London (CNN) -- Jurre Hermans, the 11-year-old Dutch boy who
entered the £250,000 ($400,000) Wolfson Economics Prize with a pizza-based plan
for saving the eurozone,
did so because he had an idea and the winnings sounded "very attractive," he told CNN.
did so because he had an idea and the winnings sounded "very attractive," he told CNN.
Jurre received a €100 ($131) gift
voucher and special mention when the prize shortlist was announced Tuesday for
his detailed entry -- including a picture, below -- showing how
debt can be exchanged for slices of pizza.
The competition was launched in
October by Simon Wolfson, the man behind British retail chain Next, to try and
find ways to deal with a collapse of the euro -- the currency tying together 17
European countries. The euro has been under intense pressure since Greece was
forced to take a bail-out from its eurozone peers and the International Monetary
Fund almost two years ago.
Through his father Julius, Jurre
told CNN he had an idea to solve the euro crisis and also thought the prize
money sounded "attractive."
Jurre, the youngest entrant to
the prize, proposed Greece should leave the euro, with the Greek people slotting
their funds into a bank "exchange machine" and getting drachma -- the Greek
currency before the country joined the euro in 2001 -- back.
As Jurre explains in his
application, the bank then gives the euros to the Greek government and "all
these euros together form a pancake or a pizza. Now the Greek government can
start to pay back all their debts, everyone who has a debt gets a slice of the
pizza."
Jurre noted the "clever part" of
his idea was that the Greek people would not want to change their euros for
drachma, because they know the currency would depreciate. However, if they hide
their euros, Jurre said they should be slapped with severe financial
penalties.
Jurre wrote: "In this way I
ensure that all Greeks bring their euros to a greek bank and so the greek
government can pay back all the debts. I hope my idea helps you!!!!"
Julius Hermans said he was proud
his son thought about the world's problems and came up with solutions.
However, Jurre told CNN he plans
to be a zoo director rather than an economist, because he loves animals. He also
wants the euro to continue.
A list of the Wolfson finalists
and their plans can be found here. The winner will be announced on July 5.
Jurre Hermans (inset) and his idea on how to solve
the euro crisis
Courtesy
of policyexchange
/cnn.com/
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