Last October five students from the University of Vermont participated in the National Federal Reserve Collegiate Challenge. The competition is a national economics competition in which teams, representing their respective colleges, present on specific topics and questions to Federal Reserve members. In the regional stage, schools are put into groups with one team from each group advancing to the final round. The winner of the final round goes onto the national competition.
This year, teams were told to analyze current monetary policy and then present on steps the Fed should take on monetary policy in the near future. UVM's team spoke on interest rate adjustments that can be made and brought forth ideas on how the regional Fed banks can be of more use. UVM unfortunately did not make the final round but scored only a few points below Dartmouth, which was the team that advanced to the final from their group. The certificate received by the team is now displayed in the Economics Department lobby.
The Economics Department supported the team by paying some of the travel expenses, and Professor Shirley Gedeon advised them. The Fed Challenge team would love to see a class devoted just to the Fed Challenge so that more people can work on the topic at hand, which would result in a more developed and meaningful presentation.
Pictured: Tyler Bourne, Paris Tolmachoff, Brent Shraiberg, and Dennis Perezic