Parsing economic trends takes time and skill, making the King Economic Research: Weekly Market Report and King Cast podcast valuable for the community. Produced by King School economics students, each product calls for research, analysis, and reporting that cultivates excellent fluency in economics for the students creating them.
The Market Report and the King Cast enrich and deepen King’s economics program, tools designed by social sciences teacher Frank Roche. He implemented the mediums as vehicles for students to immerse themselves in real-world macroeconomics.
“Producing both of these, students develop a broad range of skills as they research and source information and then evaluate price action, analyze charts, and identify correlations between asset classes,” said Roche. “This deepens the understanding of economics by relating textbook theory to real-time economic and financial outcomes.”
The Weekly Market Report, up to its 42nd issue, features charts and graphs along with written reporting. Students examine stocks, bonds, commodities, and foreign exchange as they prepare each issue.
For Paarth Tyagi ’24, working on the report has improved his research skills. For each issue, he must start by vetting the sources he relies on in his reporting.
“I like to look at information and present different reasons as to why the market has moved the way it has,” Paarth said. “Price movements are often related to various macroeconomic and political factors. However, sometimes the market moves in one direction, but the economic and political factors suggest that it should move another way, so I do need to keep in mind that financial markets can be irrational, and not all price movements make sense.”
The benefit of the process has also impacted his personal choices.
“Writing for the weekly market report helps me put my thoughts together for my personal investing,” said Paarth.
Jack Zipper ’24 has had a similar experience in producing King’s podcast. In its fifth season, the King Cast conversation format has been consistent, though its distribution format has grown from a strictly audio cast to include video recordings.
“The King Cast has taught me so much about preparation,” Jack said. “When creating a story, there is usually huge amounts of information at your disposal, and it is up to you to decipher what is most important and to communicate that effectively to your audience.”
Editing has been central to Jack’s process. The team is very selective in choosing stories for each episode, carefully cutting details irrelevant to the discussion or the audience. Jack finds listening to other podcasts helpful in producing his own.
“I have always loved listening to interesting people talk about interesting things,” he said. “I wanted to do that. Gratefully, I found the King Cast, which has allowed me to continue my love of podcasts.”
Despite knowing that the Weekly Market Report and the King Cast would be great teaching tools, Roche is impressed by their impact on the program. The awe and engagement he sees in students as they learn about policy thrills Roche.
“I am surprised at how quickly students have improved in the analysis process,” he said, adding that the more they learn, the deeper their interest in economics.
For Roche, the entire process is a delight. As someone who loves to discuss economics, having a classroom filled with students thrilled by market fluctuations, Federal Reserve activity, and fiscal policy decisions coming out of Washington is pure joy.
King Cast can be found under publications on the Clubs and Activities page of the King website and on King School’s YouTube page. The most recent King Economic Research: Weekly Market Report can be found here.