Babson Team Advances to Semifinals of College Fed Challenge

A team of economics students from Babson College advanced to the New England semifinals of the College Fed Challenge for the third time in the past six years. 

The Babson team, coached by Associate Professor Josh Staveley-O’Carroll, excelled against 24 other colleges and universities from New England in the prestigious academic competition, hosted by the Federal Reserve. Babson won its first-round group, topping Boston University and Bryant to advance to the semifinals with Dartmouth, Harvard, UConn, Wellesley, and Yale.  

“This is quite a feat, given the stiff competition in the New England district,” said Josh Stillwagon, chair of Babson’s Economics Division, “particularly given that economics is one of, if not the, largest major at much of the Ivy League and the top liberal arts colleges.” 

As coach of the Babson team, Staveley-O’Carroll recruits students from the Money, Banking, and the Economy course for the competition. The presenters this year were Manraj Bains ’24, Lily Gofman ’25, Rohan Nanwani ’27, Emilio Oliva ’25, and Felipe Viseu ’25. Also, Kaylie Lyu ’25, Hugo Murray ’27, and Jack Reed ’25 provided analysis for the competition. 

“I am incredibly proud of this year’s team,” Staveley-O’Carroll said. “In particular, the students did an excellent job of finding relevant academic research to support their economic analysis and monetary policy recommendations.” 

In the College Fed Challenge competition, students analyze the real-time state of the economy, including potential risks. Teams then present recommendations for the Federal Reserve in its interest-rate setting and conduct of monetary policy to a panel of professional economists, including those from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.  

Posted in Babson Briefs

Tagged Class of 2024, Class of 2025, Economics, Faculty, Undergraduate, Class of 2027

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