The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has announced the results of the High School Fed Challenge, an academic competition where student teams research and analyze an economic theme, subsequently crafting podcast scripts that encapsulate their findings. The selected scripts will be published in this year's Journal of Future Economists, set for release this summer.
This year's competition revolved around the theme 'Economics of Work'. Out of 80 submitted papers, New York Fed reviewers chose 12 to be published. The schools and corresponding podcast scripts included in the journal are:
- Bergen County Technical High School, Teterboro, NJ; The Elderly Economy: America’s Aging Workforce
- Bridgewater-Raritan High School, Bridgewater, NJ; The AI Takeover: A Hoax or Reality?
- Cold Spring Harbor Jr./Sr. High School, Cold Spring Harbor, NY; Tipping Culture: A Comparative Analysis
- Floral Park Memorial High School, Floral Park, NY; The BTS Effect: Growing South Korea's Economy and the Workforce Both Indirectly and Directly
- Glen Rock High School, Glen Rock, NJ; Sheconomics: Beyond Plastic─Barbie and Women Shaping the Workforce
- Greenwich High School, Greenwich, CT; Gig-a-Bite: Food Delivery and the Rise of the Gig Economy
- High School for Math, Science, and Engineering at CCNY, New York, NY; America's Trucking Industry: The Hard Road Ahead
- John P. Stevens High School, Edison, NJ; Ear to the Ground: Unearthing the Decline of Labor in Corn Farming
- New Canaan High School, New Canaan, CT; Why Money Matters: Immigration and the American Workforce
- Passaic County Technical Institute, Wayne, NJ; Nurses on Strike: Who Will Take Care of Them?
- Ridge High School, Basking Ridge, NJ; Four-Day Forecast
- The Brearley School, New York, NY; Deflating the Productivity-Compensation Puzzle
The High School Fed Challenge aims to inspire students from ninth to twelfth grade to delve deeper into economics, promoting it as a potential subject of study and career path. Participation does not require prior knowledge of economics.
Heather Daly, director of economic education at the New York Fed, praised the students' work. “All the papers we reviewed displayed the curiosity, creativity, data analysis skills, and attention to detail that are the hallmarks of a gifted economist,” she said. “Students tackled everything from the aging workforce in the trucking industry to the possibility of standardizing a four-day workweek.”
In addition to hosting the High School Fed Challenge, the New York Fed’s economic education team provides a plethora of free resources for educators. These include worksheets and lesson plans on various topics, comic books on economy available in English and Spanish, interactive worksheets featuring groundbreaking economists, classroom visits and professional development training for teachers. The New York Fed’s Museum and Learning Center is also open for guided school group visits by reservation.
Daly emphasized that their goal is to foster critical thinking skills in students through exposure to economics. “Our goal is for our work to have a multiplier effect, helping students throughout their studies and careers,” she concluded.
For further information contact Shelley Pitterson at (917) 698-0510 or Shelley.Pitterson@ny.frb.org.
