These were the 10 questions posed to the teams during the finals of the 2010-11 High School Fed Challenge Championship:

• What is your assessment of the outlook for growth and the labor market?

• What is your assessment of the outlook for inflation?

• Economists talk about the "balance of risks" to growth and inflation - by which they mean weighing risks to both the Fed's employment and inflation objectives. Please explain and justify your assessment of the "balance of risks" at the present juncture.

• What effect does the rise in oil prices have on your view as to the economic outlook and what are the monetary policy implications?

• If Congress and the White House reach agreement on significant fiscal consolidation what would be the implications for the outlook and for monetary policy?

• There is a lot of talk about inflation expectations at present. What are they and what role do they play in the inflation process?

• At the appropriate moment, the Fed will have to begin normalizing policy again. Please explain what exit strategy you expect to deploy.

• The Fed has a dual mandate, but some in Congress think the law should be changed to give it a single mandate expressed in the form of an inflation target instead. What difference if any would this make to the conduct of policy?

• What role should international considerations, including the value of the dollar, play in monetary policy?

• What is the relationship, if any, between monetary policy and financial stability?