Tobin College Undergraduates Secure First Place at Federal Reserve College Challenge

A team of undergraduate Tobin College of Business students took first place at the Federal Reserve Bank’s National College Fed Challenge final competition, representing St. John’s University on Tuesday, November 8, 2016.

Equipped with a five-year, quarterly macroeconomic data set provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the students were given a list of focus questions to guide their analysis and a challenge question on monetary policy.  Separate sets of data and questions were supplied for the first and final rounds of competition.

The team created a detailed report that analyzed aggregate demand and supply, the labor market, inflation, the price level and the housing sector, including prediction of the federal funds rate according to the Taylor Rule, and estimation of the slope of the Phillip’s Curve using an exponential regression model, to provide scientific evidence to support their recommended monetary policy in response to the challenge question.

Team members, working under the guidance of Ralph Terregrossa, Ph.D., associate professor of economics and finance, included Vincent J. Amoia, team captain; Andrew Johnson, co-captain, Noah Wright, Matt McKenna, Linh Khanh Le, Chipo Sichizya, Enrique Flores, Joseph Vann and Noah Canderozzi.