A team of highly motivated undergraduate students from York University’s Department of Economics was selected to compete in the Bank of Canada’s Governor’s Challenge.
The challenge simulates the monetary policy decision-making process by putting students in the role of advisor to the bank’s Governing Council, giving young economists an opportunity to apply their knowledge to a real-world situation. The competition began early in September and will culminate with a live presentation to a panel of Bank economists on Nov. 21.
The team includes students Tenzin Chozin, Naman Puri, Aaliah Joseph, Amirbardia Bahaaddini, Maliha Rubaba Farhad, Reyam Alkobaisi, Uche Osemene, Ying Xiu and Olha Myronyuk. Students were supervised by three faculty members: Professors Antoine Djogbenou, Tsvetanka Karagyozova and Robert J. McKeown, who made themselves available so the students had the support they needed when they needed.
McKeown said he was impressed with how hard-working York students were during the challenge.
“They took to the role of economic analyst with great energy,” he said. “Each of our young economists collected data, analyzed current economic events, performed risk analysis, and forecasted economic key variables such as economic growth and inflation. These are the same skills that today’s employers are searching for.”
Of the 24 teams representing different universities across Canada, only five will be invited to the final round in Ottawa. However, the faculty advisors supervising the York students remain optimistic that York University will be among the top performers invited to the bank’s head office in Ottawa.
The students, he said, are having fun working with each other and engaging with faculty. They are becoming a fixture in the Department of Economics computer lab, and have demonstrated remarkable teamwork and effort over the past eight weeks.
“You can see the students are having fun. And perhaps because it’s fun, they are willing to go that extra mile for each other,” said McKeown, noting that that commitment from the students, as well as Professors Djogbenou and Karagyozov, has been incredible.
“I am very proud of our team,” he said.