Competition

High School Fed Challenge

AES competes in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's annual student research program, with the opportunity to publish in the Journal of Future Economists.

About the program

What is the Fed Challenge?

The High School Fed Challenge is a research and writing competition run by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Teams of students investigate a pressing economic question, develop an evidence-based argument, and submit their work for possible publication in the Journal of Future Economists.

The competition is structured around a central theme that changes each year. Past themes have covered globalization, labor markets, and technological change. AES entered for the first time in 2026; the team was founded and organized by Henry Zimmerman '27.

The timeline is tight. From first meeting to final submission is ten weeks, with each session carrying a specific deliverable. Teams that stay on track from day one tend to produce the strongest work.

Fed Challenge official page ↗

2026 Team

Economics of Music

This year's theme examined the economics of the music industry. The team produced a podcast script analyzing market structures, incentive design, and policy questions in the streaming era.

Founded Henry Zimmerman '27
Submitted March 2026
Sponsor Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Read the script ↓

The submission

The Price of the Pit: The Economics of Live Concert Ticketing

Authors Crispin Black, Pia Chhabra, Konnor Fortini, Bella Huang, Anna Lu, Philip Molina, Anoushka Pandey, Henry Zimmerman
Faculty advisor Theodore Parker 2,492 words Chicago Manual of Style, 18th ed.
2026 Fed Challenge
Sound Money: a podcast on the economics of the music industry
Rophone (host) Flay-Shun (guest)
Hover a footnote number to see the citation.
  • Allen, Bob. "Pollstar 2025 Year End Business Analysis—A Return to Earth." In Pollstar. Last modified December 23, 2025. pollstar.com ↗
  • Aramesh, Waiss. "Maggie Rogers Announces Arena Tour, Sequel to In-Person Ticketing Program to Skirt Scalpers." Rolling Stone. Last modified April 11, 2024. rollingstone.com ↗
  • Denis, Kyle. "Zara Larsson's 2026 Chart Breakthrough Proves 2016 Is Truly Back." Billboard. Last modified February 3, 2026. billboard.com ↗
  • Ellison, Sara Fisher. "Internet Technology and its Role in the Price of Concert Tickets." Competition Policy International, February 23, 2021. pymnts.com ↗
  • Gendron, Will. "The average price of a resale ticket for the Eras Tour was $3,801." Business Insider. Last modified August 12, 2023. businessinsider.com ↗
  • Ginsburgh, Victor, and C. D. Throsby. Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture. Volume 2. North-Holland, 2014.
  • Kallman, Audrey. "The end of an Era(s Tour): Taylor Swift's final impact on hotel performance." CoStar, December 19, 2024. costar.com ↗
  • Krueger, Alan B. Rockonomics: A Backstage Tour of What the Music Industry Can Teach Us about Economics and Life. Currency, 2019.
  • Lee, Ben. "The Rise of D2C Ticketing: Driving Growth and Direct Fan Engagement." IQ Magazine, September 4, 2025. iqmagazine.com ↗
  • Leslie, Phillip, and Alan Sorensen. The Welfare Effects of Ticket Resale. doi.org/10.3386/w15476 ↗
  • Lynch, Jessica. "Olivia Dean Secures Refunds for Fans after Calling out Ticket Resale Prices." Billboard. Last modified December 1, 2025. billboard.com ↗
  • Research and Markets. "Live Entertainment Global Market Forecasts 2025-2030." Yahoo Finance. Last modified August 25, 2025. finance.yahoo.com ↗
  • Rhodes, Andrew. "A Survey on Drip Pricing and Other False Advertising." SSRN Electronic Journal, 2023. doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4430453 ↗
  • Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, 16 C.F.R. § 1 (2025). ecfr.gov ↗
  • S.3183 - BOTS Act of 2016, S. 114-274, 114th Cong., 2d Sess. (Sept. 14, 2016). congress.gov ↗
  • Sherman, Maria. "Taylor Swift's Eras Tour ends by shattering own record, grossing an estimated $2.2B." AP News. Last modified December 9, 2024. apnews.com ↗
  • Sisario, Ben. "U.K. Vows to Ban Resale of Concert Tickets above Face Value." The New York Times, November 19, 2025. nytimes.com ↗
  • Sisario, Ben, David McCabe, and Olivia Bensimon. "Justice Department and Live Nation Reach Settlement Terms in Antitrust Case." The New York Times, March 9, 2026. nytimes.com ↗
  • Ticketmaster. "Our Story." Ticketmaster Business. Last modified 2026. business.ticketmaster.com ↗
  • Ticketmaster. "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Onsale Explained." News release. November 19, 2022. business.ticketmaster.com ↗
  • United States Department of Justice v. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (settled March 9, 2026). justice.gov ↗
  • Wescott, Andrew. "'How much?!' – The Great Ticket Price Backlash of 2025." DORK. Last modified February 22, 2025. readdork.com ↗

The work

What the team produces

Research

Literature review

Each team member identifies and vets academic sources relevant to the research question. The team's source list is evaluated against an internal rubric before any drafting begins.

Analysis

Economic argument

The team builds a single, coherent economic argument: a specific, supported claim, not a survey of the topic. This is the hardest part and the most important.

Deliverable

Podcast script

The 2026 submission format was a podcast script: a written piece designed to be read aloud, combining economic analysis with accessible narrative. Finalists may be published by the Fed.

Reference

The Journal of Future Economists

The 2023 Journal of Future Economists issue, covering the Economics of Globalization, is publicly available and gives a sense of the competition's standard.

2023 Journal of Future Economists ↗

Legacy

National Economics Challenge

AES won the National Economics Challenge in 2009 and 2011, placing first among 1,500 teams nationally both years.

2011 championship → The Phillipian  ·  2013 state sweep → The Phillipian