Monday 25 March 2013 Six months of scrutinising the economy has paid dividends for student economists from the Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL) who have won first prize in a major national competition. The quartet of Annabel Asquith, Stuart Duffy, Calum Grant and Daniel Gross travelled to the Bank of England last Friday for the national final of the Bank’s Two Point Zero Interest Rate Challenge, co-sponsored by The Times. Their task was to assume the role of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), assessing UK and global economic conditions to recommend policy to keep inflation on target at 2 per cent. The team proposed maintaining interest rates at 0.5% and increasing quantitative easing by £50bn to a total of £425bn. They had to justify their recommendations under tough questioning from the judging panel of Charles Bean, deputy governor for monetary policy, MPC members Spencer Dale and Ian McCafferty, together with Hugh Pym, BBC chief economics correspondent. Panel chair Charles Bean said: “The teams have shown an impressive grasp of the key economic issues facing the MPC and have presented the material in fresh and innovative ways, and with great enthusiasm. I hope this experience has brought economics to life for the students and also demonstrated the uncertainty surrounding policy making.” GSAL’s head of economics Chris Law said: “The Bank of England’s Target 2.0 competition was created by Mervyn King 12 years ago. It is a fine educational experience which plunges A level students into the world of monetary policy at a highly technical level. Over a period of six months they are required to draw on a variety of challenging sources and convincingly blend theory with empirical evidence. “At each round of the competition they are subjected to a severe cross-examination by the panel of senior Bank employees, which is an extraordinary test of understanding, resourcefulness and nerve.” As well as winning a cash prize for the school, the winners will enjoy a month’s internship at the Bank of England this summer. 284 schools initially entered the Target 2.0 competition, with six finalists winning through the regional rounds to reach the national final at the Bank of England. This is GSAL’s fifth time in the national final, having won in 2007 and taken the runner up spot in 2012. Pictured l-r: Stuart Duffy, Annabel Asquith, Calum Grant and Daniel Gross (picture ‘The Times’ photographer Rob Stothard) General Senior School Sixth Form News
