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Welcome to Target Two Point Zero
The Bank of England and The Times Interest Rate Challenge

The National Final webcast for 2007/08 will be available in due course.

This area of the Bank of England's website has been specially developed to support the national monetary policy competition for schools and colleges, which the Bank of England is running in conjunction with The Times. Target Two Point Zero - the Bank of England and The Times Interest Rate Challenge gives teams of students age 16-18 the chance to take on the role of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, assess economic conditions and the outlook for inflation and tell panels of judges what interest rate they would set to achieve the Government's inflation target of 2.0%.

The Target Two Point Zero website provides teachers and students with information to help them take part in the Interest Rate Challenge. Although it is aimed mainly at participants, it can be used by anyone who is teaching or studying, or simply has an interest in, economics and monetary policy.

279 school and college teams took part in last year's Challenge, which was the eighth year of this prestigious annual competition.  To find out what last year's national champions and the other national finalists said about their experience of the Challenge, go to Last Year's Challenge.

If you are considering taking part in this year's Challenge and would like more information about what it involves, follow the links to the other sections of the website.  In addition, you can take a look at our information brochure.

Target Two Point Zero brochure (1.8 mb)

The website contains a large amount of information. But do not be overwhelmed by this. It is designed to be a comprehensive reference source for participants to use as an aid to their preparation. They can refer to different parts of the website when necessary.

PARTICIPANTS DO NOT NEED TO READ AND UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING ALL AT ONCE.

Foreword by the Governor of the Bank of England

Introduction	a brief overview of the Challenge
The Challenge	full details of what the Challenge involves, including the rules
Inflation	an introduction to the principles of monetary policy and the control of inflation
Policy Framework	an explanation of the UK monetary policy framework and processes
Inflation Outlook	guidance on how teams might think about building their assessment of current and future economic conditions
Using Statistics	guidance on using economic information and an explanation of some of its characteristics
The Economy	an explanation of different aspects of the economy and the data the Bank of England will provide
Data	a selection of key economic data that is relevant to setting interest rates.  This section currently contains data that were used by teams in the last Challenge.  From September 2008 it will contain data that are relevant to this year's Challenge
Your Presentation	guidance on preparing and making a presentation
News	practical information and details about the participants and the competitive rounds of the Challenge.  This section currently contains information about the last Challenge.  From September 2008 it will contain data that are relevant to this year's Challenge

In addition, from 22 September 2008, The Times will run a series of fortnightly briefings in support of the Challenge. These will be in the Business section and will also be on The Times' website.

You can contact the Target Two Point Zero team at:

Target Two Point Zero
Education Group HO-M
Secretary's Department
Bank of England
Threadneedle Street
London EC2R 8AH

Tel: 020 7601 5366
Fax: 020 7601 5808

Email: targettwopointzero@bankofengland.co.uk

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