Mission Statement

The College Federal Reserve Challenge of the Federal Reserve System is a yearly academic competition sponsored by several reserve banks and is administered by the Eastern Economic Association in the 2nd and 3rd Districts. The College Federal Reserve Challenge consists of teams of three to five students from the area colleges and universities creating a professional presentation 15 minutes in length delivered in front of a panel of judges consisting of academics and professional economists followed by a 15 minute question and answer interaction. By advancing through three rounds of competition, successful teams win recognition, with the first place team continuing to Washington D.C. to compete against other regional winners at the Board of Governors.

In addition to the educational benefits and confidence arising through rigorous competition, students benefit from opportunities to apply their experience to acquire internships, discover potential career paths, and hone skills of public speaking, logical thinking, writing, and analysis which are essential to successful integration into the global economy. Instructors of undergraduate institutions benefit through the use of a venue to develop enthusiasm for the study of economics and to integrate their curriculum in macroeconomics and money and banking course with an active learning experience promoting both necessary skills for student acquisition as well as student awareness of current events and conditions in the economy and the financial system.

Student Learning Goals

• To understand the components of the U.S. macro-economy and the factors that influence long- and short-term U.S. macroeconomic performance.
• To understand the role of the Federal Reserve System in making and implementing monetary policy decisions in service of its dual mandate.
• To understand the short-run and long-run impact of monetary policy on unemployment, inflation, and production.
• To understand the relationship between unemployment and inflation, and the role of potential output, the NAIRU, inflation expectations, and nominal and real interest rates in monetary policy decisions.
• To understand the role of productivity and productivity change in monetary policy decisions.
• To understand the role of international economic and financial conditions in monetary policy decisions.
• To understand the role of regulation and supervision of individual financial institutions and the financial system as a whole in maintaining the context for financial market stability.
• To understand the causes and evolution of the recent financial crisis and the theory and evidence on Fed response including its lender of last resort function and unconventional monetary policy.
• To understand and be able to explain theory and evidence on a variety of current controversies such as choice of monetary policy regime, management of asset price bubbles, the choice of implicit or explicit monetary policy targets, and the role of communications and transparency in achieving monetary policy objectives.
• To research, synthesize, and organize data into a comprehensive and coherent analysis of current and future economic conditions.

Previous Competitions (Youtube)