Rules, Roles & Details
The Crisis Game will require participants to not only be knowledgeable about economics, but also be dynamic, organized,able to work well under pressure, and possess a set of skills, including:
- Data analysis
- Public speaking
- Persuasion
- Debate skills
When a wave of financial crisis hits a country, governments and central banks are required to make quick decisions, based on the knowledge they have at the moment. This is a lesson that students will learn from the Crisis Game.
I. Teams
A. Five teams, made up of four participants each. Students will play roles: Government Representatives or Central Bank Representatives.
B. Teams will have the opportunity to submit resumes and one-page covered letters, which will be included in a "Team Participants" book. This book will be distributed to judges, company representatives (see Section VIII "Prizes") and honorary guests (representatives of NABE as an organization, who might have an interest in interviewing team participants).
II. Pre-Game team assignments
The game does not involve much preparation prior to the event.
A. Once teams are finalized, participants will be instructed to review key economic concepts. These concepts should be considered when analyzing the crisis country and preparing crisis solutions:
- Money supply; inflation
- Exchange rate regime: fixed vs. floating exchange rate
- Monetary policy tools: traditional and non-traditional; the role of the Central Bank
- The banking system; banks' balance sheets
- Fiscal policy tools
- Government deficit and debt; debt sustainability
- National accounts: current, capital and financial accounts
- Balance of payments; emphasis on the current account
- Sources of GDP
- Trade balance; trade competitiveness; the Dutch Disease
- FDI inflows and sudden stops
B. 48 hours prior to Game Day teams will be emailed a qualitative description of the country, including descriptions of the political/economic background, social issues, labor trends, trade information and other relevant patterns. No statistics will be distributed until the day of the competition.
Teams should study the qualitative description carefully. This will give participants an understanding of the countries they are managing.
The qualitative analysis will be a guide of which country statistics teams should focus on when preparing their crisis solution. Country data will support all key items in the country descriptions.
C. Teams should prepare a template for their final presentation, which should include the structure of their crisis response (details will be distributed to confirmed teams shortly after January 1st).
D. Information sessions with teams will be held prior to the event with the Crisis Game's organization team. At this time, any questions about the game will be answered. The organizational team will do its best to ensure that participants have a clear understanding of the Crisis Game prior to the event date.
The Crisis Game is not as complicated as it may seem!
III. Game Day details and the Role of the Audience
(This schedule is subject to change)
Friday, February 1st- 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (teams); 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. (spectators and judges)
9:30 a.m. -- Teams arrive at Brandeis, receive country data (in Excel format) and their crisis descriptions. Teams will be directed to separate rooms. The order of the team presentations will be selected randomly. Participants will be required to use personal laptops.
10:00 to 11:40 a.m. -- Teams work on crisis solutions. Two hours are allocated to prepare solutions/presentations. Each team member should be involved in the final presentation.
11:40 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. -- Refreshments and snacks will be served outside of the event venue (Sachar Lobby). Materials will be distributed to audience members at this time: a country summary and key country statistics and graphs.
12:00 to 1:35 p.m. -- Team presentations + Question and Answer period with judges.
- Each team will have exactly 10 minutes to present.
- Five minutes will be reserved for Q&A following each team's presentation (answers will be limited to one minute for each response).
1:35 to 2:00 p.m. -- Audience question period. Judges will depart to make evaluations and select a winner.
2:00 to 2:40 p.m. -- Lunch break (in Sachar Lobby) and networking reception. Audience votes will be cast at this time.
- Audience members will submit their votes for the winning team.
- Judges will also participate in the networking session after they cast their votes
2:50 to 3:00 p.m. -- Announcement of winners and conclusion
IV. The country
This year, the competition will focus on a developing country. The name of the country will not be announced. Country materials will be distributed to the teams and will be sufficient for all analysis. Teams should refrain from searching for additional information and will be strongly discouraged from seeking outside information about the country. Judges may deduct points during their evaluation. All team should perform their analysis based on the same amount of information and time available.
V. Questioning period
A. Questions from judges: Judges will ask questions right after each team persentation. The Question and Answer period is limited to five minutes for each team. Team members should do their best to keep responses to each question under a minute.
B. Questions from the audience: The moderator will lead the audience in asking five rounds of questions. Each round will contain one question per team, limited to one minute for each. Timing will be strictly enforced.
VI. Selection of winners
A. A panel of judges will select a winner based ont he following criteria:
- Creativity, presentation, persuasiveness
- Multi-faceted coverage of the economic concepts and issues
- Knowledgeable
- Accuracy and quality of analysis
- Feasibility
B. The Audience will vote on the best team based on presentation skills, knowledge and persuasiveness. Specific criteria will not be established for the audience, they will rely on team arguments during the Q&A period. The audience selection will receive a separate prize.
VIII. Prizes
Key prizes include:
A. IHS Global Insight will interview the winning team and select one person to award an internship.
B. Sponsorship to the 29th NABE Economic Policy Conference in Washington DC (March 3rd to 5th, 2013).
Expect Surprises!
