DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

Rules

Note: Below are tentative rules for NET2026. Final NET2026 Rules will be shared with teams before the event.

All Teams

Tournament Eligibility

• Student competitors must be enrolled in a high school (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 up to one team. In addition to the 4 students, teams may optionally send one alternate.
  
  • Alternates can attend the tournament but cannot participate unless a team member is sick or unable to compete. Before the start of a round in the Econ Bowl, alternates may “sub in” for a team member for a round with clear verbal approval from the NET team.
• All team members must attend the same high school. Exceptions must be explicitly approved in writing by the NET Team.
• 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 during the Econ Bowl and receiving all communication leading up the event.

Tournament Structure

• There are two main competitive events: the Power Round and Econ Bowl 

  • In-person and Virtual teams may take the Power Round asynchronously before the NET26 weekend.
  • The format and rules of the Econ Bowl differ depending on the selected modality (virtual or in-person).
•  The format of the competition is subject to change at any time subject to local and Northwestern policies.

Curriculum Breakdown

• Sample Power Round and Econ Bowl questions are available on the NET website. 
• Note: The percentages below are approximate.

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)

Econ Bowl

• 30% Macroeconomics (for example, but not limited to: Trade, Growth, Fiscal/Monetary Policy)
• 30% Microeconomics (for example, but not limited to: Industrial Organization, Microeconomic Theory, Game Theory)
• 10% Current Events
• 10% Economic History
• 10% History of Economic Thought
• 5% Finance
• 5% Econometrics

POWER ROUND RULES

• Teams will be assigned one of two divisions based on their prior math and and/or economics experience. Besides question difficulty, there are no other differences between the two divisions. The NET Team will make the final decision regarding division placement.
• The Power Round is a written, team-based exam. All four members of a team collaborate to complete four free-response questions in 90 minutes.
• The test will be written in a way that the difficulty increases with each question. However, each question will still be worth the same number of points, 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, so try to solve questions even if you’re not entirely sure how to approach them.
• Calculators are allowed, but the use of the internet is strictly prohibited.
• Only the four team members (and one alternate, only if a team member is sick or otherwise unable to participate) are allowed to contribute to the completion of the Power Round. Teams may NOT seek outside help from advisors, parents, teachers, other students, former Economics Nobel Laureates, etc. Additionally, teams may NOT use any form of generative AI, including, but not limited to Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, or DeepSeek. 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.
• The last question will be a tie-breaker question. 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, the second-to-last question will be the tie-breaker question. This will continue until a winner is determined or a tie is declared and both teams congratulated for their dexterous economic knowledge.
• Power Round winners will be announced at the NET26 Closing Ceremony. Specific scores for each team will be released to teams after the event.

In Person Teams

The format of the in-person competition is subject to change at any time subject to local and Northwestern policies.

The in-person Econ Bowl rules are largely retained from the NET 2024 competition. However, some rules have changed, so please read through the rules carefully.

In Person Econ Bowl Rules

Format

• The Econ Bowl consists of two stages: 
  • Preliminary Rounds: Teams will play a total of eight matches across ten Preliminary Rounds. The first four match pairings will be determined completely randomly. The next four match pairings will be determined based on each team’s records from previous rounds. Teams with similar records will be paired.
  • Single Elimination Bracket: The top four teams from the Preliminary Rounds will advance to a single elimination bracket, with seeding based on results from the Preliminary Rounds. 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 one 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. Alternates may “sub in” between rounds, but NOT during rounds.

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.
• Toss-ups will appear in short answer form. There will be no computational questions in toss-ups.
• Bonuses will occur in Short Answer format. 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)

• Matches will last until all 15 questions have been read. 

Answering Toss-Ups

• Toss-ups are answered individually by the player that buzzes. Players may NOT collaborate to answer a toss-up.
• Once the moderator starts reading the question, any player can buzz in at any time (see “interrupting” below). A player must buzz in using the lockout buzzer system. After a question is read in its entirety, players will have five seconds to buzz in, after which point the moderator will move on to the next toss-up question, skipping the bonus.
• The player that buzzes in will be recognized by the moderator explicitly by naming the number associated with that player in the lockout buzzer system. 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 opposing team that did not provide an answer will have an opportunity to buzz in. However, collaboration or communication at any point by the opposing team is strictly prohibited. 
  • Once the moderator indicates that the question is incorrect, players on the second team will have five seconds to buzz in and provide an answer.
  • If a player on 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 and no bonus points will be awarded.
• Team members may collaborate during a bonus. The opposing team (that does not have the bonus) must 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.

Interrupting

• A player may buzz in before a toss-up is read in its entirety; this is called an “interrupt.”
• The moderator will recognize the player who interrupted. Players MUST wait until they are recognized before they speak. Interruptions must be done via the lockout buzzer system, which will automatically notify the moderator who buzzed in first in the event of a perceptual tie. 
• If a player interrupts and answers the toss-up correctly, the player’s team is awarded 5 points and the bonus will be read to them.
• 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 team will receive a warning, but further violations will result in  the opposing team being awarded 3 points. 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”), they will receive a warning, but further violations will result in the opposing team being 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 (or they did not face head-to-head), 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 (e.g. whether a blurt had occurred) 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 at most two unsuccessful content challenges per round.

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 electronic devices may be used by players, advisors, 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 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.