A team of Emmanuel students won first place at the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) Crisis Simulation Case Competition held at the Brandeis International Business School on November 9th.
During the 7th annual competition, an economic crisis was simulated for teams, who represented the Central Bank and the Government of a simulated country and worked to provide a solution to the crisis within a 24-hour time frame.
Luca DePalma ’21, Mariella Hanson ’21, Lindsey Murphy ’21, and William Santos ’21 represented Emmanuel against teams from Brandeis University, Babson College, and the University of Cincinnati and were led by Visiting Lecturer John Barrett of the Department of Business and Economics.
“As a team, we had to identify the crisis in the given nation and develop policies to fix it,” said DePalma. “The four of us utilized the knowledge from the many semesters in economics classes and compiled a list of economic theories that could better the nation in the given situation.”
NABE is the premier professional association for business economists and others who use economics in the workplace. The annual competition held by the Brandeis NABE student chapter provides students with an opportunity to apply their knowledge of economics, finance, and market regulation. For Barrett, part of the thrill of the competition was seeing his students transfer the skills they have gained in the classroom to an applied experience.
“The competition was a great experience for the students,” said Barrett. “They were able to leverage the theories and concepts they have acquired while pursuing their degrees to real-world issues. The team did a great job organizing and synthesizing a large amount of information in a short amount of time. This is a testament to the skills they have acquired in the School of Business & Management here at Emmanuel.”
Although each Emmanuel student participating is studying in the School of Business & Management, they come from different areas of study. Lindsey Murphy emphasized the value of the team’s multidisciplinary background to their overall success at the competition.
“The crisis, just like in real life, was not one single issue,” said Murphy. “By having a mix of disciplines, we were able to better analyze the issues at hand and how various solutions may affect different sectors. This really helped us determine what the optimal solutions were for the country. The overall experience was fun and definitely worthwhile.”
Brandeis University’s NABE Case Competition is held every fall and is open to any students majoring in a discipline found within a college’s school of business.
“Overall, we learned a lot about how to implement economic policies in a nation,” said DePalma. “I would recommend anyone in economics or a similar major to compete next year.”