NEW YORK—On Thursday, June 25, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York will publish the Journal of Future Economists. The journal is comprised of the selected papers from the 2026 High School Fed Challenge, an annual academic paper competition. The competition, now in its 31st year, is open to high schools nationally.
Participating student teams analyze an economic theme—the Economics of Music this year—then write podcast scripts reflecting their research. Of the 207 papers submitted, Federal Reserve reviewers selected 12 papers to publish. Selected papers were announced in May and included:
- Bergen County Technical High School-Teterboro, Teterboro, NJ: Swiftonomics: The Impact of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour
- Fairview High School, Boulder, CO: Time to Face the Music: Is Inequality in the Music Industry a Problem?
- Greenwich High School, Greenwich, CT: Swinging Towards Shutdown: Why Jazz Clubs Are Losing the Market
- Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Aurora, IL: The Attention Economy of Music: How Social Media Rewired the Music Industry
- Lafayette Academy, Lake St. Louis, MO: I, Song
- Langley High School, McLean, VA: Symphonomics: The Economics of Copyright Laws in Music
- Melissa High School, Melissa, TX: All I Want for Chri$tmas Is Revenue: The Economics of Xmas Music
- Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH: Polyopoly: The DOJ’s Antitrust Lawsuit Against Live Nation
- Pine View School, Osprey, FL: Touring Economics Through Time
- Princeton High School, Princeton, NJ: Spinning Back: The Resurgence of Vinyls
- Skyline High School, Sammamish, WA: The Economics of Music Catalogs: Why Yesterday’s Hits Have a Discount Rate
- University School, Hunting Valley, OH: Dead Air: The Fight to Own Your Sound
The 2026 competition was sponsored by the New York Fed in partnership with the Dallas Fed and the Richmond Fed on behalf of the Federal Reserve System. For more information and previous editions of the Journal of Future Economists, please see High School Fed Challenge.
