DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

Rules

Note: The following rules are from NET2023. Rules for NET 2024 will be updated before the 2024 event. 

All Teams

Tournament Eligibility

• Student competitors must be enrolled in a high school in one of grades 9-12 for the current academic school year - or if home-schooled, be of high school standing.
• Each team must consist of 4 students, and each school may send only one team. In addition to the 4 students, teams may optionally send one alternate.
• All team members must be from the same high school.
• Each team must be accompanied by an advisor who is a faculty member at the team's high school OR a parent/guardian of one of the team members.
• Each team should designate a team captain, who will be responsible for answering bonus questions.

Tournament Structure

• There are two main competitive events: the Power Round and Econ Bowl.
• Both virtual and in-person teams will take the Power Round asynchronously
  before the NET23 weekend.
• The format and rules of the Econ Bowl differ depending on the selected modality
  (virtual or in-person).

Curriculum Breakdown

Team Power Round

• 50% Macroeconomics (for example, but not limited to: Trade, Growth, Fiscal/Monetary Policy, History)
• 50% Microeconomics (for example, but not limited to: Industrial Organization, Public Finance, Microeconomic Theory, Econometrics)

Team Econ Bowl

• 20% Macroeconomics (for example, but not limited to: Growth, Trade, Fiscal/Monetary Policy, Trade)
• 20% Microeconomics (for example, but not limited to: Industrial Organization, Public Finance, Theory, Labor)
• 17.5% Current Events
• 17.5% Economic History
• 10% History of Economic Thought
• 5% Finance
• 5% Econometrics
• 5% Wildcard

POWER ROUND RULES

• The power round is a written, team-based exam. All four members of a team collaborate to complete up to 6 free response questions in 120 minutes. 
• Each question is worth the same number of points (excluding bonus parts), and point values will be denoted on the exam. Incorrect or unanswered questions receive zero points, and there is no penalty for guessing. Partial credit may be awarded.
• The two lowest-scoring questions will not be considered in the final score.
• 2 weeks prior to the date of the in-person competition, teams will be emailed about what day(s) of the following week they plan to take the test.
• Tests will be sent out to teams based on when they indicate they are taking the test(s). Answers are expected to be submitted within a 2 hour window after receiving the test. Teams will be given a 30 minute grace period to submit their solutions.
• Calculators and notes are allowed, but use of the internet is strictly prohibited in both divisions.
• Only the four team members and one alternate (if applicable) are allowed to contribute to the completion of the Power Round. Teams may NOT seek outside help from advisors, parents, other teachers, other students, former Economics Nobel Laureates, etc. If teams have questions, find any errors in the exam, or require clarification, they should contact NET. Teams found in violation of these rules will be disqualified from the competition and their school may be barred from participating in future NET events.
• One of the questions will be a tiebreaker question, but teams will NOT know in advance which question is the tie-breaker question. This question will only be graded if the two highest-scoring teams earn equal numbers of points on the free response questions. The team that earns more points on this tie-breaker question will be declared the winner.
• If there is still a tie after the tiebreaker question is factored into both teams’ scores, a final tiebreaker question will be sent to both teams to complete. If both teams achieve equal scores on this exam as well, a tie will be declared and both teams congratulated for their dexterous economic knowledge.

In Person Teams

In Person Econ Bowl Rules

Format

• The Econ Bowl consists of two stages:
  • Preliminary Rounds: Teams will compete head-to-head in five preliminary rounds. The first three preliminary round pairings are determined completely randomly. The final two pairings will be determined based on each team’s records after the first three rounds. Teams with similar records will be paired.
  • Single Elimination: The top 4 teams will advance to a single elimination bracket. The semifinal matchups will be random. The winner of the single elimination bracket will be declared the winner of the Econ Bowl.
• Each round consists of two teams competing head-to-head in a verbal competition featuring a lockout buzzer system.
• Teams earn points by buzzing in and answering questions. The team with the most points at the end of the match is the winner of that match.
• Teams consist of four players and an alternate. One player for each team should be designated as the captain: the captain is responsible for answering the bonus questions on behalf of their team. For any given match, notwithstanding any extenuating circumstances, the same set of four players must play throughout the match.

Question Styles

• Questions are in pairs of toss-ups and bonuses. The team that successfully
  answers the toss-up will have an opportunity to answer the bonus question.
• No communication between players is permitted during toss-up questions.
  Players are permitted to collaborate to answer bonus questions. The Team Captain must answer the bonus question.
• Toss-ups will appear in short answer form. There will be no computational
  questions in toss-ups.
• Bonuses will occur in Multiple Choice and Short Answer format. The format of
  the bonus will be specified by the moderator before the question is read. Basic
  mathematical computations may appear in bonuses, but not toss-ups.
• Matches will consist of 15 pairs of toss-ups and bonuses (30 questions total)

Time

• Round robin and single elimination matches will last 25 minutes or until all 15 questions have been read, whichever occurs first.   
• If the round time ends while a question is in progress, the round will end after the bonus is completed.

Answering Toss-Ups

• Toss-ups are answered individually. Players may NOT collaborate to answer a toss-up.
• Each player can buzz in. The moderator will read questions that all eight players have an opportunity to answer.
• To answer a question, a player must buzz in using the lockout buzzer system. After a question is read, players have five seconds to buzz in.
• The player that buzzes in will be recognized by the moderator explicitly, first by naming the school and then identifying the student. Only the player that is recognized is allowed to give an answer.
• Players must wait until they are recognized by the moderator before giving their answer.
• Once recognized, players have approximately 3 seconds to begin providing an answer. If an answer is not provided within that time or there is a significant delay while providing an answer, the moderator will call a “stall” and the question will be counted as incorrect. Prefacing remarks that do not answer a question, such as “my answer is…” will be counted as beginning an answer. Judgment calls by the moderators are final.
• If a question is answered correctly, the team that answered the question correctly is awarded 5 points and the bonus will be read to them.
• If a question is answered incorrectly, the team that did not provide an answer will have an opportunity to buzz in.
  • Once the moderator indicates that the question is incorrect, the second
    team will have five seconds to buzz in and provide an answer.
  • If the second team buzzes in, is recognized, and answers the question
    correctly, this team is awarded 5 points and the bonus will be read to
    them.
• If both teams are unsuccessful with a toss-up, the bonus is not read. The moderator will identify the correct answer to the toss-up and proceed to the next toss-up.
• In most cases, questions will not be re-read.

Answering Bonuses

• The team that successfully answers the toss-up question will have an opportunity to answer the bonus.
• After the bonus question is read, the team captain has approximately 20 seconds to provide an answer. After this time, the moderator will prompt the team captain for an answer. If no answer is given promptly, the bonus will be forfeited. 
• Team members may collaborate during a bonus. The opposing team (that does not have the bonus) should remain silent during this time.
• Only the answer from the team captain will be accepted for the bonus. Attempts to answer the bonus from members who are not the captain will not be accepted.
• A correct bonus will be worth 3 points.

Acceptable Answer Formats

• For short answer questions, equivalent answers will be accepted.
• Multiple choice questions may be answered in one of three ways:
  • Letter only (e.g. W, X, Y, or Z)
  • Verbal answer only (e.g. “upwards”)
  • Letter AND verbal answer (e.g. “W, upwards”)
  • If the verbal answer is provided, it must match the question exactly as it is read by the moderator or as is written (e.g. “leftwards” or “up” will be incorrect if the question indicates “upwards”).

Interrupting

• A player may buzz in before a question is read in its entirety; this is called an “interrupt.”
• The moderator will recognize the player who interrupted. Interruptions must be done via buzzer, which will automatically notify the moderator who buzzed in first in the event of a perceptual tie. 
• If a player interrupts and answers the question correctly, the player’s team is awarded 5 points.
• If a player interrupts and answers incorrectly, the question will continue being read, and the opposing team will have an opportunity to answer in a manner consistent with the rules above.
• The team that answered incorrectly may not buzz in again for this question.

Scoring

• Questions
  • Correct toss-ups are worth 5 points.
  • Correct bonuses are worth 3 points.
  • Incorrect answers receive 0 points.
• Penalties
  • If team members are found collaborating during a toss-up, the opposing team is awarded 5 points, and the collaborating team forfeits their ability to answer that toss-up question. 
  • If a player provides an answer before they are recognized by the moderator (i.e., “blurts”) the opposing team is awarded 3 points. If applicable, the question will be re-read for the opposing team, who will have an opportunity to buzz in. The team which blurted will not have an opportunity to buzz in.
  • If a team is participating in distracting behavior during another team’s bonus, they will receive a warning from the moderator. Any other instances of distracting behavior after the first warning will result in 5 points being awarded to the opposing team.
• The team with the most points at the end of the match will be declared the winner of that match. No ties can occur during the single-elimination bracket.
• The top four teams with the best Win/Loss record from the Preliminary Round will advance to the single-elimination Bracket.

Tiebreakers

• In the event that two teams are tied in the Preliminary Round and this tie matters for purposes of determining the single-elimination bracket, the team which won the pair’s head-to-head match will advance to the single-elimination tournament.
  • Further, in the event that the head-to-head match resulted in a tie, the team with the highest number of points earned in all rounds will advance to the single-elimination tournament.
  • Further, if two teams are tied in match points, the two teams will proceed to compete in a 5 toss-up-only runoff tiebreaker with the same rules regarding toss-ups as above.
• No ties are allowed in the single-elimination tournament. If a tie occurs once a single-elimination round has been completed, the two teams will proceed to compete in a 5 toss-up runoff tiebreaker with the same rules regarding toss-ups as above.

Challenges

• There are two types of challenges: rules and content challenges. Only the eight players in a match may issue challenges. Advisors and alternates may NOT issue challenges.
• Rules challenges relate to scoring or the application of the rules (e.g. scoring). Judgment calls by moderators CAN NOT be challenged.
• Content challenges relate to the validity of round questions or acceptable answers.
• Teams should state their challenge to a specific question before the next question is read by saying “challenge.” Once a team member challenges a question, the round time is stopped. Once a new question is read, teams may no longer challenge previous questions.
• Teams are allowed to issue at most one unsuccessful content challenge per round.

Supplementary Rules

• The structure of the Economics Bowl is subject to change at the discretion of NET organizers, if deemed necessary for the successful and fair execution of the tournament.
• No cell phones or electronic devices may be used by players, coaches, substitutes, or spectators once the match has started. If any electronic device is audible during the match, the person possessing the device must leave the room for the rest of the match, and the device may be subject to confiscation for the remainder of the tournament.
• If the buzzer system significantly malfunctions during the course of a toss-up question and officials are unable to determine which of the two players buzzed in first, the round time will be paused, the question will be discarded, and the buzzer system will be replaced. When play is ready to resume, the next toss-up will be offered to both teams, or if this situation occurs on the last question of the round, the officials will obtain a replacement question.
• If the moderator inadvertently responds to someone other than the captain while indicating whether an answer is correct, or to the captain before the answer is being given, the officials will replace the game time used in that bonus, and the next bonus question will be read to the team playing the bonus. If this situation occurs on the last question of the round, the officials will obtain a replacement bonus question.

Virtual Teams

Virtual Econ Bowl Rules

Eligibility

• All times will be published in Central Daylight Time (UTC−05:00), which is the local time in Chicago. Teams outside of this time zone are responsible for converting published times into their local time zone.
• All players, alternates, and advisors should ensure that they have a functioning Zoom account and a stable Internet connection.
• Members of a team can join the Zoom room individually from their own devices (i.e. if all students are at home), or together from the same device (i.e. if all students are in the same room), or some combination of the two. In any case, please ensure that all team members can be heard and seen.
• A team includes four players and an optional alternate. Only four students from each team shall compete at a time. The alternate may join the Zoom meeting but cannot communicate with the four competing students. In the event that one player disconnects in the middle of a question, the remaining members of the team should continue competing. Prior to starting the next question, teams should wait for the player to disconnect. If a player is unable to connect after a substantial period of time, their team may be forced to continue without them. If a substitution is necessary, the remaining players should indicate to the moderator that they are substituting a player, after which the substituting player joins the competing students. If only three students are able to connect, the team is still eligible to compete.

Format (New for 2023)

• The virtual Econ Bowl consists of three stages: the Preliminary Round, the Semifinal Round, and the Final Round
  • In the Preliminary Round, two teams will enter a Competition Room (in the
    form of a Zoom meeting) with the NET moderators. Teams will verbally answer a series of economics questions for points, competing head-to-head with another predetermined team. Each team will play two matches in the Preliminary Round against two different opponents. Teams’ overall scores will be compared once all teams have competed in the Preliminary Round.
  • The four teams with the highest scores in the Preliminary Round will advance to the Semifinal Round, which has a similar format to the Preliminary Round.
  • The winning teams for the Semifinal Round will compete in the Final Round. The team with the highest score in the Final Round will be announced as winner of the virtual Econ Bowl.
• The rounds will consist of 10 questions per team for a total of 20 questions.
• Each team will be given a 10-second time window after the reading of the question to provide their answer. Thus the overall approximate time per round will be 10 minutes of competition and 20 minutes for introductions, questions, and practice questions, along with any possible technical difficulties.
• Each team should have their video and audio on for the duration of the Econ Bowl slot. Teams must discuss their answer through the Zoom call (not Facetime or another outside source). We encourage each member to have their own Zoom screen, but this is not a requirement.
• Please join your Econ Bowl Zoom meeting five minutes early. Ensure your name on Zoom matches the name used in registration. You may be placed in a waiting room before entry.

Moderation

• After a brief introduction to NET and a quick clarification of the rules by the moderator, we will do two practice questions to adjust to the new format.
• Before each question, the moderator will state the team that will have the first opportunity to answer. The moderator will then read the question out loud.
• The team with the first opportunity to answer will have 10 seconds to discuss and reach a consensus. This time window will start immediately after the moderator finishes reading the question.
• To answer the question, any competing team member must say “FINAL ANSWER” then state their answer. We recommend that teams designate one person (for example, the team captain) to deliver the final answer. However, any of the four competing team members may answer.
• If a question is answered correctly, the team will receive one point.
• If a question is answered incorrectly, the team will receive no points and the opposing team will be given an opportunity to answer the question. The opposing team will have 10 seconds to discuss and reach a consensus. If they answer correctly, they will receive one point.
• Technical difficulties aside, questions will generally not be re-read.
• When a question is answered, the moderator will immediately announce if the answer was correct and then start the next question.
• Each team is guaranteed the first opportunity to answer 10 total questions, with then 10 opportunities to “steal” the other team's question if the other team gets all of their questions wrong. Therefore, the maximum possible number of points per match is 20. If both teams answer all of their questions correctly each team will receive 10 points.

Acceptable Answer Formats

• For short answer questions, equivalent wordings will be accepted. Numerical answers must be given in exact and simplest form.
• Team members must say “FINAL ANSWER” before stating the answer.
• If a team member states their final answer without saying “FINAL ANSWER,” the answer does not count. There is no penalty, but it will waste time.

Scoring

• Questions
  • Each question will have the same point value (1), there are no fractional
    point values.
  • Incorrect answers receive 0 points.
  • Under no circumstances will points be subtracted from a team’s score
    total.
• The four teams with the highest scores after the Preliminary Round will proceed to the Semifinal Round.

Tiebreakers

• Teams’ Power Round scores will be used to determine ties. In the event that exactly four teams are tied in their Preliminary score, all teams will advance to the Semifinal Round. If more than four teams are tied, teams’ Power Round scores will be used to determine which team(s) advances.
• In the Semifinal and Final rounds, ties will be broken via the following hierarchy of tiebreakers:
  1. Overall number of points (including those from the Preliminary Round)
  2. Power Round scores
  3. In the highly unlikely event that teams are tied in their overall number of points AND their Power Round score, a runoff set of questions (with the same rules and timing) will be administered to both teams shortly following the Final Round.

Challenges

• There are two types of challenges: rules and content challenges.
• For the virtual competition, challenges can come from the four players, the alternate, and the coach.
• Rules challenges relate to scoring or the application of the rules (e.g. scoring). Judgment calls by moderators CANNOT be challenged.
• Content challenges relate to the validity of round questions or acceptable answers.
• Teams should state their challenge to a specific question before the next question is read by saying “CHALLENGE.” Once a team member challenges a question, the round time is stopped. Once a new question is read, teams may no longer challenge previous questions.
• Teams are allowed to issue at most two unsuccessful content challenges per
  round.

Troubleshooting Protocol

• If an answer is accidentally revealed before the team provides its answer, a corresponding backup question of similar style, length, and difficulty will be selected by the moderator.
• If a participant disconnects, the timer will not be stopped and the current question will be finished. After the current question is completed, the round will pause.

Supplementary Rules

• The structure of the Econ Bowl is subject to change at the discretion of NET organizers if deemed necessary for the successful and fair execution of the tournament.
• No cell phones or internet-accessing devices may be used by players, coaches, substitutes, or spectators once the match has started, with the exception of the device used to participate in the Zoom call.
• If the moderators see any unauthorized electronic device being used during the match, the person possessing the device must leave the Zoom call for the rest of the match.
• Any technical malfunctions (i.e. Zoom crashing; internet connection failing) will be dealt with on an individual basis.
  • If a participant loses connection during a question, remaining team members will finish the current question, then time will pause. We will then resolve the issue and resume when we can.
  • The same procedure follows if a NET team member is disconnected. If all NET members in the call disconnect, call the NET phone hotline (only if inside the US or Canada) or email us at nuecontournament@gmail.com (if international)
  • We will do our best to accommodate technical issues, but players with more severe problems may be asked to sit out of the remainder of the round.
• Any adjustments to the round, for example, due to connection issues, will be at the discretion of a round’s moderators.