November 22, 2023
Meghan O'Toole
Papadovasilaki supervises students' participation in Fed Challenge
Five seniors participated in the Federal Reserve's National College Fed Challenge, a national competition for undergraduate students.
Led by Assistant Professor of Finance Dimitra Papadovasilaki, Elya Gasparyan '24, Mariam Hovhannisyan '24, Aarti Singh '24, Muoykong Taing '24, and Alexander Zakson '24 created a data-driven video analysis of how largescale economic indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP), unemployment rates, and inflation impact the individual lives of Americans day-to-day.
Zakson, a finance major and transfer student from Harper College, found the project to be a practical application of the knowledge he and his peers are learning in lectures.
“We weren’t just learning from lectures; we were out there collecting our own data and using it to make sense of how these concepts play out in everyday life,” he explained. “It was like connecting the dots between what we see in books and what happens in the market, which was both challenging and incredibly rewarding. This hands-on experience really brought the subject to life for me.”
The highly competitive challenge is hosted virtually by the Federal Reserve along with other co-sponsoring Federal Reserve Banks and regional planning universities. Through the challenge, undergraduate students act as central bankers and make monetary policy determinations based on independent research.
“This project was more than just number-crunching; it was about understanding the Fed's toolkit—those crucial decisions on interest rates and other policies that can either rev up the economy or tap on the brakes,” Zakson said. “What really brought it home for me was forecasting what's next for our economy and proposing our own policy solutions, all while keeping an eye on the ever-changing global economic landscape.”