News Release
Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School from Indiana Wins District Fed Challenge Competition
CHICAGO — A team of five students from Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis, Indiana, representing the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's Seventh District will compete on May 19 in the national finals of the High School Fed Challenge competition to be held in Washington D.C.
Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School competed against the following teams from Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin to become district champions of the Federal Reserve's High School Fed Challenge competition.
School | State |
Illinois | Illinois Math and Science Academy, Aurora |
Iowa | West High School, Iowa City |
Michigan | International Academy, Bloomfield Hills |
Wisconsin | The University School of Milwaukee, Milwaukee |
The Fed Challenge was developed to encourage greater awareness among students of how the U.S. economy functions and the role of the Federal Reserve in the economy. Each team is required to analyze current economic data, develop a monetary policy recommendation and defend that recommendation in front of a panel of judges. The team prepares a 25-minute demonstration, which includes a 15-minute presentation on the economy and a 10-minute period where students answer questions from the judges.
Presentations must include a discussion of economic conditions as of the day of the competition; a forecast of near-term changes in economic, financial and international conditions, such as unemployment and inflation; identification of conditions or situations that warrant attention in the formulation of monetary policy; and a recommendation as to whether the Fed should move to raise or lower interest rates.
Judges at the final competition will include members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and presidents of Federal Reserve Banks.
The list of team member's names from Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School are available upon request.
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Background
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that, along with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the nation's central bank. The Chicago Reserve Bank serves the seventh Federal Reserve District, which encompasses the northern portions of Illinois and Indiana, southern Wisconsin, the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and all of Iowa. In addition to participation in the formulation of monetary policy, each Reserve Bank supervises member banks and bank holding companies, provides financial services to depository institutions and the U.S. government, and monitors economic conditions in its District.