News Release

CHICAGO — High school teams representing the five states that make up the Seventh Federal Reserve District will compete on May 8, for a chance to travel to Washington for the finals of the High School Fed Challenge competition.

The schools that will be competing are:

Each of these schools won their state competition in April and will gather at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago May 8 to determine a Seventh District champion team that will represent the bank at the finals in Washington D.C., May 18–19.

At every level of the competition, The Fed Challenge encourages 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 Economists. Team members give a 15–minute presentation on the economy and then spend 10 minutes answering 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.

The winner of the district championship will go on to compete in the national Fed Challenge Competition, May 18–19, against teams from four other Federal Reserve Banks across the U.S at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. Judges at the final competition will include members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, presidents of Federal Reserve Banks and Economists.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Background

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is one of 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks that, along with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., constitute the nation's central bank. The Chicago Fed serves the Seventh Federal Reserve District, which encompasses the northern portions of Illinois and Indiana, southern Wisconsin, the lower peninsula of Michigan, and the entire state of Iowa. In addition to providing check processing and other services for financial institutions, each Reserve Bank serves as a bank for the U.S. government, supervises member banks and bank holding companies, monitors economic conditions in its district, and participates in the formulation of national monetary policy.