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, then wrote podcast scripts reflecting their research. The selected podcast scripts will be published in this year’s Journal of Future Economists, to be released this summer.
The theme of this year’s competition was the economics of globalization. Of the 78 papers submitted by school teams, New York Fed reviewers selected 12 to publish. The schools and podcast scripts that will be included in the journal are as follows, listed by school name, in alphabetical order:
- Bergen County Academies of Hackensack, NJ; Holy Guacamole! The Avocado as a Globalized Good in the United States and Mexico
- Bethlehem Central High School, Delmar, NY; Money Doesn’t Grow on Dead Trees: Invasive Species in Our Globalized Economy
- Brooklyn Technical High School, Brooklyn, NY; Pop Culture Economics: Japanese Anime Globalization and Impact
- Edison Academy Magnet School, Edison, NJ; Biodiversity Loss: The Hidden Cost of Economic Globalization
- George W. Hewlett High School, Hewlett, NY; Competing in the Global Semiconductor Industry: Let the Chips Fall Where They May
- Greenwich High School, Greenwich, CT; It’s a (s)Mall World: Globalization, E-Commerce, and Shopping Malls
- Hawthorne High School, Hawthorne, NJ; Globalization Revolution: How Advancements in Technology Affect the Global Economic Landscape
- Mount Saint Mary Academy, Watchung, NJ; Goodz Gone Global: The International Success of Acai
- Niskayuna High School, Niskayuna, NY; Generous Electric: How General Electric’s Globalization Lights and Hauls the World
- Northern Highlands Regional High School, Allendale, NJ; Making CENTS of Petrodollars: The De-Globalization of Petrodollars and its Effect on the United States Economy
- Rye Country Day School, Rye, NY; “Friendshoring” and Deglobalization in the Shadow of COVID-19 and Russia’s War in Ukraine
- TASIS School of Dorado, Dorado, Puerto Rico; Lucid Economics Podcast: Dimensions of Globalization
The High School Fed Challenge aims to encourage students in ninth to twelfth grade to learn more about economics and promote it as a subject of study and a career possibility. Students are not required to have studied economics to participate.
“The teams examined how everyday goods–such as avocados, gasoline, and Japanese manga comics–exemplify important economic concepts such as interdependent trade,” said Heather Daly, director of economic education at the New York Fed. “It’s clear from their work that they understand that complex economics concepts are reflected in our daily decisions – like whether to buy an avocado salad. We are excited to share their knowledge and inspire other students to recognize the role economics plays in their own lives.”
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 three rounds of elimination competition, each of which was judged by New York Fed employees.
The New York Fed changed the High School Fed Challenge to an academic paper competition in 2021 to encourage broader participation. The theme for each year’s competition is announced in September.
In addition to hosting the High School Fed Challenge, the New York Fed’s economic education team offers a host of free resources for educators. The team has drafted worksheets and lesson plans on globalization, the flow of money, redlining, and changes in the cost of living over a century; a series of comic books on the economy, available in English and Spanish; and a series of interactive worksheets spotlighting pathbreaking economists. The New York Fed also conducts classroom visits and professional development training for teachers and hosts the College Fed Challenge in the fall. The New York Fed’s Museum and Learning Center is also open, by reservation, for guided school group visits.
“One of our aims is to foster the next generation of economists,” Ms. Daly said. “We want to teach students how economists think. The traits that thinking encompasses, like inquisitiveness, creativity, and attention to detail, will serve them well in any field they choose.”
