Developing your presentation
the objectives
planning your approach
managing the workload
thinking about your presentation
reaching your decision
thinking about the judges' questions
the objectives 
Before you begin, make sure you are clear about the objectives of the Challenge, so you have a good idea of what you are aiming to achieve and what, in general terms, the judges will be expecting from your team's presentation. How you go about the task is up to you but remember that the broad objectives are:
To assess the balance between demand and output, and the extent of inflationary pressure in the economy;
To assess the future outlook for the economy in general, and the outlook for inflation in particular, in other words, you need to look ahead;
To judge whether interest rates should be changed or left at the current rate set by the MPC in order to meet the inflation target;
To make an interest rate recommendation and offer supporting arguments and evidence;
To deliver an interesting and effective presentation.
planning your approach
You will want to spend a fair amount of time considering the resource material, familiarising yourselves with the data on the economy, and thinking about the issues that are most likely to be relevant to your interest rate decision. You can then decide how you want to go about your work. You might want to start with an interest rate discussion and vote to establish what each member of the team thinks about the economic situation and inflation outlook, and then decide the main issues that the team wants to cover. Alternatively, you might want to start by understanding the background to the latest MPC decision and discuss areas where team members agree and disagree.
You will also need to decide how you want to undertake your assessment and analysis of the economy. Do you want to rely entirely on the information provided by the Bank of England, or do you want to use other data and information that are available?
It might help to draw up a checklist of questions that you want to answer such as:
is the economy slowing down or speeding up?
what areas of demand are strong or weak?
what is the outlook for demand?
what are the money supply data showing?
what is happening in the world economy?
in which direction does employment appear to be moving?
how close is the economy to operating at full capacity?
are wage pressures and other costs rising or falling?
how has the exchange rate changed?
is the current rate of inflation likely to rise or fall?
managing the workload
However you decide to get the ball rolling, you will need to keep the workload manageable. Do not start by visiting a library and taking out a collection of textbooks. The aim of the Challenge is not to cover a course in economics in a few months. You will have to become comfortable with some basic ideas - such as why inflation rises and falls - and be familiar with some of the language that is used. But the resource manual and newspaper articles should be sufficient for this.
It might be a good idea to establish how much time you can devote to the Challenge, and how much help you can expect from others in your class or group. Design your efforts around this and be realistic. You could also think about prioritising what you want to do. You could establish a list of the data and issues you think it will be essential to cover, and perhaps have a second list of things to do if time allows.
A polished and well-argued presentation that focuses on a limited number of themes will work better than one that attempts to cover everything but lacks coherence. The Challenge is not about which team can assemble the most information. Remember, your presentation should be no longer than fifteen minutes. Cramming everything in will not allow you to focus on the issues you think are central to your decision. And the judges might not spot your main lines of argument if they are weighed down by too much information, delivered at high speed.
You will also need to decide how you want to divide the material amongst team members - do not forget the Challenge rules say that each person must make a significant oral contribution to the presentation. Establish who is responsible for different elements of the work - such as collecting new data, reading newspapers, and overseeing the overall progress of the team in relation to an agreed timetable. You might want to divide the material on the basis of the different aspects of the economy covered in The Economy section. But, if you adopt this approach, you should still base your interest-rate decision on an assessment of the outlook for the economy as a whole, not particular aspects of it - such as the labour market.
thinking about your presentation
As there are only two months between the start of the Challenge and the regional heats in November, teams will need to think about their presentations quite early on. They will need to decide what kind of presentation to give and how it might be structured. For example, do you want to start with your interest rate decision or conclude with it? How do you want to cover current economic conditions and your thoughts about the economic outlook? Do you want to focus on a small number of key points, perhaps those which are central to your interest rate decision? Or do you want to cover different aspects of your economic assessment in a more comprehensive way?
Some teams might want to work through the material in the same way as the minutes of the MPC meetings or Inflation Report; other teams might want to present in an entirely different way. These are all questions for your team to consider - that is part of the Challenge.
You should assume that the judges are familiar with textbook theories and the workings of monetary policy - they will all have had first-hand experience of the Monetary Policy Committee and its decisions. So there is no need to give them background information or to discuss economic theories. But you might want to make it clear why you are looking at a particular issue or piece of data. This will help to demonstrate your understanding - for example, 'data on the growth in wages tell us something about how much consumers might have to spend'.
You will want to demonstrate in your presentation that you have reached your interest rate decision in a thoughtful way. You do not want to give the impression that you thought about it the day before, or have only considered a few pieces of information - your decision will be based on uncertain judgements, but that is not to say that you should arrive at it casually. After all, you are deciding how much interest everyone in the country should pay on their borrowings and receive from their savings!
reaching your decision
To reach your decision, you might find it useful to list all the factors that you think suggest lower interest rates, higher interest rates and no change in interest rates. This might help you to organise your thinking and allow you to form an overall judgement. Alternatively, you could list factors as being either inflationary or deflationary. Once you have identified all the relevant factors, you can decide where the balance of evidence lies, and make your decision.
Do not forget that teams are not required to reach a unanimous decision about interest rates. But if there is a difference of opinion within the team, you will have to explain this. You could let each member of the team explain their own vote. But each team member should still base their decision on the whole picture and not just the aspects they have covered.
And remember that your team's interest rate decision must relate to the official Bank Rate set by the MPC at the time of your presentation. So you will need to be flexible and keep in touch with developments as you approach the regional heats. If you build all your thinking and work around the need to raise or reduce interest rates, and the MPC does just that at its meeting in early November, you might have to re-think your approach and presentation. Do not put all your eggs in one basket!
thinking about the judges' questions
You should think about the questions that your presentation and decision might prompt. You might find it helpful to get someone to ask you some questions. What questions flow from your key points? What areas might the judges be uncertain about? How might the judges challenge your conclusions and interest rate decision? Rehearse your answers with your teachers and friends.
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