Economics students give top-tier performance at College Fed Challenge

December 12, 2014

Competing against some of the strongest economics programs in the world, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater excelled in the 2014 regional College Fed Challenge.

Held Nov. 10 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the annual competition tests students' knowledge and understanding of monetary policy. The event attracts universities in the Midwest and the winner goes on to nationals at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. to compete against winners of the other regions.

The Warhawk team, which included students Mary Cummings, Kyle Grossmeyer, Derrek Grunfelder-McCrank, Rick Grunewald and Tyler Thomas, finished third, behind teams from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University.

UW-Whitewater finished ahead of UW-Madison, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Notre Dame University, Marquette University and the University of Iowa.

Working as a team, students are required to give a 15-minute presentation analyzing economic data and then make recommendations about what the Federal Reserve should be doing with regard to monetary policy. Students must demonstrate higher-order critical thinking skills and oral presentation skills, as well as the ability to respond well under pressure.

The UW-Whitewater team practiced for months, sometimes three to five days a week, to prepare. Economics alumni helped review script drafts, suggested revisions and sent helpful feedback. Faculty members Yamin Ahmad, Stuart Glosser and Eylem Ersal, from the Department of Economics, helped grill students on topics ranging from unemployment and finance to international economics and Federal Reserve structure.

"It's challenging and fun," Glosser said. "Students work very hard to prepare themselves in a sufficient way to convey understanding. They're learning about the process, and working to get their facts straight and their timing right."

Preparation is extremely important because the judges of the College Fed Challenge are Federal Reserve economists with a deep understanding of the material.

"You get a lot of points by referencing scholarly articles, so our preparation included a lot of reading. We pored over articles on Bloomberg and the Federal Reserve website to stay up-to-date with current events," Cummings said. "We also read minutes from Federal Reserve meetings to familiarize ourselves with the jargon so our scripts sounded authentic."

At the competition, UW-Whitewater students used no notes. They memorized their material.

"When the Federal Reserve issues a statement, people tend to analyze every word, so our presentation needed to strike the right chord," Cummings said. "One judge said our policy prescription was sufficiently vague, and that the Fed would be proud."