Students Nate Coleman, Walker Higgins, and Matthew Hill at the 2014 Pacific NW Regional Economics Conference in PortlandUndergraduate economics majors Nate Coleman, Walker Higgins, and Matthew Hill represented the University of Washington last month at the 48th annual Pacific Northwest Regional Economics Conference.
Students from universities in Washington and Oregon participated in a 'real time' Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting simulation with the students taking on the roles of FOMC members analyzing the economy and making a monetary policy decision.
Students were invited to participate by the conference organizers in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Our students represented the New York Fed Chair in the simulation.
Conference organizer Gary Zimmerman of the San Francisco Fed praised our students' presentation, which argues that "economic conditions are sufficient to warrant accelerated tapering and Contractionary Monetary Policies."
The conference, "Managing Risk and Building for the Future in an Era of Uncertainty" was held this year in Portland and included 20 breakout sessions on topics related to the regional economy. Members of the business, government, and academic communities were invited to submit proposals for papers, panels, or themed paper sessions.