Fed Challenge Team Develops Winning Podcast
The Mount Fed Challenge team, which is comprised of Zoe Daly '24, Lillian Del Rossi '24, Victoria Fekete '24, Katherine Ferris '24, Isabelle Fretz '24, Nina Heim '24, Charlotte Jotz '24, and Akshaya Karanam '24, developed a podcast on the Economics of Globalization which has been selected for publication in the Journal of Future Economists.
According to Kathleen Brennan, Department of Mathematics Chairperson, the team investigated the global supply chain effects of the acai market, a fruit grown only in Brazil that is very popular among Americans.
"The Fed Challenge provided an excellent opportunity for my students to apply what they had learned in economics class to a real-world issue," explained Ms. Brennan. "Their decision to focus on the acai berry was brilliant—they incorporated economic concepts such as comparative advantage, supply chains, environmental sustainability, and labor markets to tell a compelling story of how this simple berry is representative of the complexities of globalization. They will never eat a Playa Bowl again without thinking about how globalization made it all possible!"
"Participating in the Fed Challenge was such a wonderful experience," said Victoria. "We brainstormed about how globalization affects our lives, and we then dove into a specific topic – acai – to see how this fruit has become a global phenomenon. We honed our writing and research skills, and produced a podcast script that had to be informative and catchy as well. I am so proud of our team, and thank Ms. Brennan for her help!"
Nina, a member for the past two years on the Fed Challenge team, called it "an invaluable experience," adding, "It has helped me realize the incredible versatility of economics and that I want to pursue economics further in college."
"I am so proud of this team and how hard we worked on this podcast," she said. "We spent months evaluating potential topics and had to scrap lots of outlines in the process, but our final product was one I’m really proud of. Globalization is such a prevalent topic in today’s world, and I really enjoyed applying all of my Macro and Micro knowledge when writing this piece. I am beyond grateful to Ms. Brennan for introducing me to Fed Challenge and for mentoring our team throughout the process - we simply couldn’t have done it without her!"
Zoe said, "Being published by the Federal Reserve of New York is such an incredible opportunity that will propel all of us in the field of economics. It also shows how focused we are as a school on encouraging girls to pursue and excel in economics. This was truly a labor of love and collaboration, and I am so proud of all of my teammates. Also, a huge thank you to Ms. Brennan for continually guiding us and helping us make the best podcast possible!”
“This was such a great experience to work alongside my peers and Ms. Brennan," added Katherine. "The knowledge I gained through researching is truly invaluable. I am so happy to be a part of a team with such driven young women."
Isabelle noted, "This is my second year doing Fed Challenge, and I could not be prouder of our team and the podcast script we created. This challenge has helped me harness my creativity, research skills, and ability to work with a team. I want to especially thank Ms. Brennan for her continued guidance; we couldn’t have done this without her!"
© Mount Saint Mary Academy