News Release

DETROIT-- A team of students from International Academy in Bloomfield Hills today won a state-wide competition testing their knowledge of how the Federal Reserve creates policy to foster a strong and stable economy.

The competition, called the "Fed Challenge," was held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's Detroit Branch and included teams from five other Michigan high schools.

Winning team members Sharat Akasapu, Gary Basin, Nirav Shah, Wesley Sudduth, Peri Weisberg and Joyce Zhang beat teams from Allendale High School, Andover High School in Bloomfield Hills, Fordson High School in Dearborn, Grosse Pointe North High School and Troy Athens High School. The International Academy coach is Steve Eschrich.

The International Academy team will now represent Michigan in the District Fed Challenge championship on April 15, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The team will compete against teams from Illinois, Iowa, Indiana and Wisconsin for the opportunity to represent the Chicago Federal Reserve District in the National Fed Challenge competition, which will be held May 14-16 at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington D.C.

Each team is comprised of five to six students. They use their research of existing economic, financial and international conditions to prepare a forecast of the economy, to identify potential concerns, and to make recommendations for national monetary policy.

During the competition, the team gives a 15-minute presentation to a panel of judges consisting of economists from the Federal Reserve, the private sector and academia. The judges then question the students about how the Fed creates policy to foster a strong and stable economy.

The competition:

• Provides education on how Federal Reserve policy-makers develop and implement monetary policy that influences the amount of credit and money in the economy.
• Teaches students to conduct economic research, think critically, and make presentations.
• Promotes economics and finance as a career choice.

Preparing for the competition gives students an idea of how economists get ready for a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the Federal Reserve group that creates national monetary policy under the guidance of Chairman Alan Greenspan.