PFW trio places highly in Federal Reserve Board national competition

While the Federal Reserve Board of Governors continues to wrestle over interest rates, three Purdue University Fort Wayne students have been peeking over their shoulders.

As part of a class taught by Heather Tierney, associate professor of economics, seniors Carson Morton and Pia Briz and junior Josh Fairchild worked since before the fall semester to enter a video in a national competition called the College Fed Challenge and sponsored by the Fed. Teams of three to five students assume the role of advisors to the Federal Open Market Committee in the conduct of monetary policy.

The PFW squad was notified recently it finished in the top 18 out of 119 universities from across the country, placing among the top three in the Federal Reserve of Chicago District, only behind the University of Michigan and alongside the University of Chicago. Tierney has taught the class at PFW since 2016, and guided a PFW team to the national semifinals in 2022.

"Fed Challenge gives undergraduate students a chance to learn about the Fed and monetary policy," said Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell. "Fed policymakers carefully consider incoming economic data and work together to determine the best policy to pursue our dual mandate goals of maximum employment and price stability. Through the Fed Challenge experience, students go through similar deliberations and gain a better understanding of the economy and the Fed's role in it."

Tierney's class and the initial competition assignment included assembling and processing current macroeconomic information, the current economic situation, and moving beyond a theoretical understanding of economic policy. Then the team formulated a detailed proposal, which includes a PowerPoint presentation and video recording. The Fed Challenge semifinals consisted of an online interview with the judging panel.

"A lot of our classes teach us concepts of economics, and this is a way for us to actually apply that knowledge," Fairchild said. "It's our first real-world dip into what our major is going to entail for us. For me, at least, it's confirmed that this is not just something I'm interested in, but something I have a passion for and want to do going forward."

Though the three participants are all majoring in economics, they are interested in different facets of the field. Briz wants to become an economist, Morton is interested in finance and hedge funds, and Fairchild is considering the legal side of business, and possibly politics. All three said they are more confident in their career choices thanks to what they have experienced during the class.

"One of my concerns was that I'd get into the job field and I wouldn't be able to remember what I learned in my intro to economics class from two years ago," Morton said. "This class really provided a confidence boost that you do know this stuff-it might take you a second or two to remember all of it, but you do know it enough to apply it to the real world and succeed doing so."

All three students talked about how they grew in confidence during the course, eventually displaying the potential presence the professor knew they had. Tierney nicknamed Briz "The Economist" before the student felt she actually grew into the role.

"Before taking this class, I was super lost where I was going with my career," Briz said. "I can say now that I'm ready to have an 8-to-5 job, have an interview, and be asked questions about real-world stuff. I learned that I actually do like economics and what I'm doing in my major."

They have also learned from each other and developed friendships they said would last past the class and graduation. They often stayed after class to talk about other topics, and all mentioned how much they enjoyed collaborating. As an example, the trio recorded their presentation over four or five hours, but realized they could do better and agreed to come back a week later to try again. Then they nailed the production.

"After we taped, we discussed it as a team, and this is something we are very proud of that we can stand by," Tierney said. "There wasn't anything said we can't defend. They put in hours and hours, and I'm really proud of this team."

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.