Economics: Fed Challenge

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Instructor Permission Only; Special Topics courses cannot carry CC designations. PACE students by permission and override

The purpose of this class is for the students to act as a team to participate in the Fed Challenge, a competition between economics students from a variety of universities. The competition is described at https://sites.google.com/site/bostonfedchallenge/home The students will develop a presentation for the competition. Between three and five students will make the presentation and field questions from the judges. All students will play an important role in the development and practice of the presentation. The presentation consists of an analysis of current macroeconomic conditions and a monetary policy recommendation as if you were presenting at a real meeting of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee. Students will learn real skills about how to research, analyze, present, and defend findings and recommendations in a (mock) professional setting. There is significant data collection and analysis. There are also readings of both policy briefs and academic articles about the macroeconomy and Fed policy. To get an idea of the kind of presentation it takes to win the competition, students can watch videos of the 2023 winner's presentation and Q&A session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3c18uMZSj0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3oe13OaOCo

The presentation is the creation of the students, and the instructor plays a supporting role. As such, everyone must step up to the plate to commit their time and energy to the project. Students have different skill sets and interests, so there is plenty of opportunity for specialization and division of labor. The presentation takes place in mid-October. If the team advances from the Boston regional to the national competition, that competition takes place in November. In 2023 the UVM team was one of six finalists out of more than 20 university teams in the Boston region. UVM did not advance to the nationals, so the course effectively ended in mid-October. In 2024 the UVM team came in second in its group so did not advance to the regional finals.

Students are evaluated according to their effort and the quality of their contribution to the presentation. This means attending class, meeting deadlines as agreed to by the team in our sessions, and providing quality work product. Students are also evaluated on the basis of their teamwork and the respect and support they show one another. Presenters are not given any grading advantage over non-presenters. Even if you have no interest in being one of the presenters, please join the class.