Home
Admissions
Request a Prospectus
Contact Us
Links
Old Girls
Vacancies
Parent Login
Calendar
School Information

GHS Girls Tackle the Interest Rate Challenge



On 16th November a team of GHS A Level Economics students won their regional heat of the tenth annual Target Two Point Zero – Bank of England and The Times Interest Rate Challenge. The challenge attracts nearly 300 entries from schools and colleges across the UK and encourages Sixth Formers to explore how monetary policy affects economic growth, employment and inflation in the British economy.



The_team_and_judges_at_the_regional_heat.jpg

The challenge asks students to take on the role of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee by interpreting data, assessing economic conditions and considering the outlook for inflation. Having worked on their policy in school, the teams then attend the regional heat where they present to a panel of judges the monetary policy they would set to achieve the Government's inflation target of 2.0%. The judging panel also questions the participating teams to fully understand the reasoning behind the recommendations being made.



It is an exciting opportunity for the GHS A Level Economics students to demonstrate their insight into the key issues which affect the UK economy and the action which is necessary to keep inflation on target. As well as acquiring a practical understanding of how monetary policy influences inflation, the girls also enjoyed the teamwork and gained confidence from the public speaking and presenting which is involved.



The nine-strong GHS team, which consisted of four girls who gave the presentation supported by five other researchers, recommended an interest rate of 0.5% compared with the Bank of England's official rate of 0.5% set by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on 5 November 2009. They also recommended a total of £200bn of asset purchases under the Asset Purchase Facility, compared with the £200bn agreed by the MPC on 5 November 2009. Having won their regional heat, they will now go on to one of the six area finals to be held in February 2010. The national final will take place on 19 March 2010 at the Bank of England in London.



You can read more about the Target Two Point Zero challenge on the Bank of England website.