>> Quiz Bowl is brought to you in part by New Perspectives, Inc.

It's about more than your portfolio.

It's about your life.

(upbeat music) >> Welcome to the Mississippi Quiz Bowl.

I'm your host Keri Horn, and today’s competition is the Economics Challenge.

This exhilarating event brings together the brightest minds from across the state to showcase their economic prowess and compete in a thrilling battle of wits.

As we delve into the intricate realms of economics, we invite you to embark on a journey of knowledge, strategy, and teamwork.

For the first time, the final round of the challenge is being televised by Mississippi Public Broadcasting!

As I mentioned before, my name is Keri Horn, and I’m a longtime employee of Mississippi Public Broadcasting, and an Emmy-Award winning writer.

Today our Quiz Bowl judges are Dr. Becky Smith, Associate Extension Professor and Director of the Center for Economic Education at Mississippi State University; and Dr. Sondra Collins, Senior Economist at MS Institutions of Higher Learning.

They are assisted by Alisha Redd and Krista Round from Cadence Bank.

Organized by the Mississippi Council on Economic Education, this competition serves as a platform for students to demonstrate their understanding of economic principles, policies, and real-world applications.

Economics is the study of how we address unlimited wants with limited resources.

It is at the simplest level about decision-making!

Through a series of challenging questions and scenarios, participants will navigate through topics ranging from microeconomics to macroeconomic theory, from international trade to financial markets.

Our final teams competed in a regional challenge earlier today and have proven themselves to be the best.

To my right, we have Germantown High School and to my left we have Northwest Rankin High School.

Let’s learn a little bit about our contestants.

>> My name is Harrison Lollar.

I go to Germantown High School and I like to play golf.

>> I'm Peyton Brewer, and I go to Germantown High School and I love to go hunting.

>> Hi, I'm Preethika Lakshminarayanan, and I'm the team captain, and I go to Germantown High School.

A fun fact about me is I don't have a middle name.

>> Hi, my name is Gabby Caraway.

I go to Germantown High School, and a fun fact about me is that I have an evil orange cat named Leroy.

>> Hi, my name is Caleb Xie.

I go to Northwest Rankin High School, and I love to build and take apart computers.

>> Hi, my name is Kayla Truong.

I go to Northwest Rankin High School and I can speak three languages.

>> Hi, my name is Layla Warden.

I'm the team captain for Northwest Rankin High School, and I'm a Canadian citizen.

>> My name is Jim Caldwell.

I'm from Northwest Rankin High School, and I love playing tennis.

>> Cool.

Thank you everyone.

Now let’s review the rules: There are three rounds: As we begin this thrilling journey, we encourage all participants to embrace the spirit of healthy competition, collaboration, and learning.

Good luck to both teams.

Let the Mississippi Economics Challenge Quiz Bowl begin!

Round 1 will consist of questions about Microeconomics.

Ready?

All right.

Question number one: (buzzer) Germantown?

>> -35,000.

>> I'm sorry.

That is incorrect.

>> E -$45,000.

>> That is correct.

Question number two: Watch your time.

Y’all are running out of time to buzz in.

(buzzer) Okay Northwest Rankin.

>> Scarcity, inflation and cost.

>> That is incorrect.

All right, Germantown.

>> Increase in cost of production, an increase in income, and an increase in substitutes.

>> I'll toss that to you.

>> That is also incorrect.

So we were looking for increase in demand, a decrease in supply or inflation.

>> Next question: (buzzer) Germantown.

>> C. >> Incorrect.

Northwest Rankin.

>> A.

>> That is correct.

Next question: (buzzer) Northwest.

>> D. >> That is incorrect.

All right.

Germantown.

>> A.

>> That is incorrect.

You went to tell them the answer?

>> Sure.

The answer is C. So whenever we think about people being willing to pay more for something, it has to be that it benefits them more.

So that marginal benefit has to be more.

Even though I know some of you won't agree, say I want water because I have to have it to live.

But water is also... there's a supply side, but people pay more when there's a higher marginal benefit.

(buzzer) Northwest Rankin.

>> Inferior?

>> That is correct.

All right.

This is a true or false question: (buzzer) Germantown >> False, because price does not shift the curve.

>> That is correct.

(buzzer) Germantown.

>> A?

>> That is correct.

Another multiple choice question: (buzzer) Northwest Rankin.

>> C?

>> That is correct.

Result in gasoline shortages even in an oil-rich country.

That concludes Round One.

Our current scores are Germantown with two points and Northwest Rankin with four points.

Now let's move on to Round Two, which will be about Macroeconomics.

Question number one, which is a multiple choice: (buzzer) >> B?

>> The purchase of stock in Potomac Electric Company?

That is correct.

Question number two: Watch your time.

(buzzer) Oh, I'm afraid time has run out.

Would y’all like to share the answers with them?

>> Sure.

So marginal propensity to consume just means if you get an extra dollar, how much of that dollar do you spend?

And so in this case, the family gets an extra $2,000.

They spend $1,500 of it.

So that’s 75% of what they receive.

So the marginal propensity to consume is 75%, or .75.

Marginal propensity to save is the exact same thing, but if you get an extra dollar, how much do you save?

In this case, they're saving $0.25 on every dollar, so .25 for the marginal propensity to save.

>> All right, question number three.

This is a listing question: (buzzer) Germantown.

>> Structural and frictional both stay the same while cyclical increases.

>> That is correct.

>> Next question: (buzzer) Germantown.

>> Recession.

>> That is incorrect.

>> Expansionary.

>> That is correct.

So keep in mind of whether or not unemployment is more or less than it should be.

So in this case, the natural rate is 5%, but we have less than the natural rate.

So it must be that the economy is in an expansionary state.

Because recessionary would be the opposite.

>> All right.

Here we go.

(buzzer) Germantown.

>> No policy action where wages will increase.

>> That is correct.

>> All right.

Next question.

This one is a multiple choice.

(buzzer) Germantown.

>> A?

>> I'm afraid that's incorrect.

Northwest Rankin.

>> C. >> Correct.

All right.

Next question: (buzzer) Germantown.

>> You use quantitative easing when there is less money in the system.

So you can't buy or sell bonds freely like you do in open market operations, because ample reserves do that.

>> That answer is not what we’re looking for.

>> Northwest Rankin.

>> When ample reserves and interest rates are very low.

>> That is also incorrect.

So what we're looking for is QE is more of a crisis mode type response and OMO is more of a slow and steady kind of response.

>> Next question: (buzzer) Germantown.

>> Changing the interest rate when it comes to like discount rate or like requirements.

And also the second one is open market operation.

That becomes like buying and selling bonds.

>> That is incorrect.

>> Okay.

Northwest Rankin.

>> It’s price stability and open market operations.

>> That is also incorrect, but closer.

So you have to think about, separate the mandate from what they actually do.

Right?

So the mandate is the goal.

So the goal of the Federal Reserve is to keep unemployment at a natural level as much as possible, and also keep prices stable.

So those are the goals.

Then is how do they do that, right?

And how they do that is open market operations, discount rates, and Federal Reserve rate.

So those are the differences.

>> Next question: (buzzer) Northwest Rankin.

>> C?

>> I'm afraid that is incorrect.

Germantown.

>> A?

>> That is correct.

All right.

This will be the last question in Round Two: (buzzer) Germantown.

>> It was Janet Yellen.

And it was like the overall like the National Federal Reserve Bank.

>> I'm afraid that's incorrect.

(buzzer) Oh, time is up, I'm afraid.

The name is Karen N. Horn and she was President of the Federal Bank of Cleveland from 1982 to 1987.

All right.

That was the end of Round Two.

And our current scores are Germantown with five points and Northwest Rankin with seven points.

We will now move on to our next round, which is the final round.

And it will consist of Current Events.

All right.

Question number one: (buzzer) All right, Germantown.

>> For the first blank, it's an all time and for the second blank, 14.

>> I'm afraid that is incorrect.

Northwest Rankin.

>> An all time high and 6.5%.

>> I'm afraid that's incorrect as well.

The answers are 40 year high of 9.1%.

Next question: Watch your time.

(buzzer) I'm afraid we are out of time.

The answers were it took approximately five years for employment to recover from the Great Recession, and it took approximately two years to recover from COVID 19.

Next question: (buzzer) >> Northwest.

>> Increased grain prices because they have lost a lot of supply to the war.

>> That is correct.

Next question: (buzzer) Germantown >> A sickness that affected chickens during those two times.

>> That is correct.

Next question.

(buzzer) Germantown.

>> $80,000,000.

>> That is incorrect.

Northwest Rankin?

>> $160,000,000.

>> That is incorrect also.

But I do love the answer here.

>> So the correct answer is $6,000,000,000.

(excited exclamations) And it’s like having a Super Bowl - if you're more of a sports fan - in every single city that was in that path.

>> Okay, next question.

(buzzer) Germantown.

>> B.

>> That is correct.

Current account.

Next question: (buzzer) Germantown.

>> D. >> I'm afraid that is incorrect.

Northwest Rankin.

>> C. >> That is correct.

Overall benefits exceed overall costs for the country as a whole.

All right.

Next question.

This is a multiple choice: (buzzer) Germantown.

>> B.

>> That is correct.

Next question: (buzzer) Germantown.

>> National spending.

>> I'm afraid that's incorrect.

Northwest Rankin.

>> It equals revenue from taxes.

>> I'm afraid that's incorrect as well.

The answer is national investments.

Next question: (buzzer) Germantown.

>> National Investment will be funded through taxes on the consumers.

>> That is incorrect.

Northwest Rankin.

>> Bonds-- Loans.

>> That is incorrect.

Bonds were so much closer.

So we're looking for foreign investment, right.

That foreign investment coming in from another country because it is open.

>> Next question: (buzzer) Germantown.

>> B.

>> That is correct.

Labor productivity.

>> We’re tied!

>> Okay.

This was our final round, and this is going to be our final question because right now we are standing at a tie.

Our score is Germantown with nine points and Northwest Rankin with nine points.

So this will be our tiebreaker question: (buzzer) Germantown.

>> A.

>> I'm afraid that is incorrect.

All right, I'll go to Northwest Rankin.

>> B.

>> That is correct.

And that concludes our Final Round with our final scores of Germantown nine and Northwest Rankin ten.

That means that Northwest Rankin is our winning team.

So congratulations, everybody.

Congratulations.

And we extend our sincerest congratulations to all participants in the Mississippi Quiz Bowl Economics Challenge.

Your dedication, intellect, and passion for economics have made this competition an inspiration to us all.

To the students and academic coaches who have dedicated countless hours in preparation for this event, your hard work and experience have not gone unnoticed.

You have exemplified the spirit of intellectual curiosity and academic excellence, and we commend you for your outstanding achievements.

Congratulations again to both teams!

I’m Keri Horn, thank you for watching the 2024 Mississippi Economics Quiz Bowl!

See you all next time!

(laughter) (applause) The lead sponsors are State Farm, BankPlus, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi, and the Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance.

Your commitment to education and the advancement of economic literacy has made a profound impact on the academic community, and we are deeply grateful for your partnership.

Funding for this program is also provided in part by viewers like you.

Thank you.

>> Quiz Bowl is brought to you in part by New Perspectives, Inc.

It's about more than your portfolio.

It's about your life.