NEW YORK – The Federal Reserve Bank of New York today announced the results of this year's High School Fed Challenge, an academic paper competition in which student teams researched and analyzed an economic theme. The selected papers will be published in the inaugural issue of the Journal of Future Economists this summer.
The theme of this year's competition was economic inequality. The schools and papers that will be included in the journal are as follows, listed by school name, in alphabetical order:
- Greenwich High School of Greenwich, CT; The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Circular Relationship Between Educational and Economic Inequality
- Leonia High School of Leonia, NJ; The Federal Reserve System's Impact on Economic Inequality: How Different Types of Monetary Policy Affect the Wealth and Income Gap
- Marlboro High School of Marlboro, NJ; The Stock Market's Role in Economic Inequality
- Mount Saint Mary Academy of Watchung, NJ; Leading Factors of Gender Inequality
- North Rockland High School of Thiells, NY; Does Lack of Money Affect Children's Mental and Physical Well-Being Later in Life?
- Ridgewood High School of Ridgewood, NJ; A Lasting Legacy: An Analysis of the Causes and Potential Solutions to U.S. Housing Inequality with a Focus on New Jersey
- Shaker High School of Latham, NY; A New Approach to Forecasting Inequality: Using Machine Learning to Predict the Gini Coefficient
- The Bronx High School of Science of New York, NY; LGBT and Economic Inequality: A Hidden Gender Gap
- The High School for Math, Science and Engineering at the City College of New York of New York, NY, The Effects of Gentrification on Economic Inequality in Bedford-Stuyvesant
- The Koinonia Academy of Plainfield, NJ; Make Noise: The Socioeconomic Effects of Riots on Urban Areas
- Westhill High School of Stamford, CT; Tackling Income Inequality in the United States
- William A. Shine Great Neck South High School of Great Neck, NY; Impacts of Financial Literacy on Income Inequality: How Do Education and Economic Opportunities Matter?
"We were blown away by the quality of the 66 papers we received," said Heather Daly, director of education programs at the New York Fed. "Just as professional economists produce a mix of qualitative and quantitative analyses, so did the students. Every team that participated did truly outstanding work."
The High School Fed Challenge aims to encourage students in ninth to twelfth grade to learn more about economics and promote economics as a subject for study and a career possibility. Students are not required to have studied economics to participate.
From 1995 to 2020, the High School Fed Challenge was conducted as a competition in which teams played the role of monetary policymakers by analyzing economic conditions and making a policy recommendation. Teams traveled to the New York Fed in lower Manhattan for preliminary competition, and, if they advanced, semifinal, and final rounds to present their analyses to New York Fed employees who served as judges.
The New York Fed last year made the High School Fed Challenge an academic paper competition, announcing a theme in September.
In addition to hosting the High School Fed Challenge, the New York Fed's economic education team has drafted worksheets and lesson plans on the flow of money and the economic impact of COVID-19; a series of free comic books on the economy, available in English and Spanish; and the first in a planned series of spotlights on pathbreaking economists. The New York Fed also hosts the College Fed Challenge later in the year.
"We want students to experience for themselves that, at its core, economics is just as much about finding the right questions as it is doing the work to arrive at answers," Ms. Daly said.
