Bentley University won the New England Competition of the College Fed Challenge, held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston on November 9, beating out 18 undergraduate universities from the First Federal Reserve District including three-time national champion Harvard University. In the final round against Harvard, Dartmouth and Middlebury Colleges, Bentley advanced to the National Competition to represent New England on November 27 in Washington, DC. Bentley has competed in the Fed Challenge since 2007 and were National Champions in 2010.
Bentley’s team members include the following students:
Alfonso Martinez ‘13,
Denise Klop (Tilburg University)
Spencer Tirella ‘13
Erik Larsson ‘13
Guillermo Fernandez ‘13
Brian Rogers ‘14
Josh Kulak ‘13
Dan Battista ‘13
Cody Normyle ‘13
Thomas Moore ‘13.
Economics degree Professors Aaron Jackson and Dave Gulley are the team advisors and led the students through practice and rehearsals leading up to the regional competition.
(L-R, Bentley President Gloria Larson, Erik Larsson, Guillermo Fernandes, Alfonso Martinez (back), Denise Klop, Dan Battista, Cody Normyle, Brian Rogers, Josh Kulak, Spencer Tirella, Professor Aaron Jackson, Tom Moore, and Scott Guild, Director of Economic Education, FRB Boston)
Sponsored by the Federal Reserve System, the team competition for undergraduate college students is based on a debate of the Federal Open Market Committee’s monetary policy. Each team has a maximum of 15 minutes to make an oral presentation to a panel of judges consisting of academics and professional economists. The presentation must:
- Analyze current economic conditions as they are on the day of the competition;
- Provide the team’s economic forecast for the near term;
- Explain timely issues and risks that should receive special attention in formulating monetary policy; and
- Make and justify the team’s recommendation for Fed monetary policy, encompassing both traditional tools and newer tools as warranted.
Following the presentation, the team faced 15 minutes of questioning from the panel.
To prepare for the national competition, Gulley said the team will continue to monitor the economic conditions in the United States in order to keep Bentley’s presentation current, paying particular attention to all events surrounding the upcoming fiscal cliff. “Financial markets will react to any deals between the Obama administration and House Speaker Boehner, including rumors of a deal, and that will affect our recommendation on the day of our presentation,” said Gulley.
To get the latest Bentley Fed Challenge team results on November 27th follow them on Twitter @bentleycfc.