Jesse Nadel

Nadel, who will graduate in May with a degree in finance, was awarded the money by the Ridgefield Liberty Cooperative and a private lunch and tour of Barron's headquarters with former chief economist of the New York Stock Exchange and current economics editor at Barron's, Gene Epstein, for asking the most thoughtful question at a lecture on the central bank at the Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, Conn.

Nadel, who said he discovered the opportunity to enter the competition through Erik Johnson, assistant professor of economics in the School of Business, learned he was one of four finalists vying for the big bucks a few days before the Nov. 19 lecture.

"I was impressed by his questions," Johnson said. "I think the fact he did some research and asked very insightful questions probably did a lot for him."

Of the approximately 50 questions submitted by students, Nadel said two of his questions were among the top five selected.

"The organizers wanted the top five students to attend the lecture and ask the questions," Nadel said. "I was the only person with more than one question to ask."

As he sat on stage in front of about 100 students and professionals with his four fellow finalists, Nadel said they announced the question he was about to ask was deemed best by nine judges, including Epstein.

"I was happy and very surprised," Nadel said. "It was great."

He asked, "Mr. Epstein, you have stated that, 'There are three reasons to abolish the Fed: Recession, inflation and war.' Recently, the U.S. has been caught up in both war and recession and may be poised for extreme inflation in years to come. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been extremely costly to the U.S. tax payer. Additionally, the current recession is one of the worst the U.S. has ever seen. Given the severity of these issues, one would surmise that you are currently in favor of abolishing the Fed. Assuming this is true, what would be your proposed alternative to the current system and how would you go about unwinding the Federal Reserve without causing further damage to what currently is a fragile economy?"

Although Nadel said his question wasn't directly answered, he said he did gain some insight through the answer. "He tried to get around proposing his alternative," Nadel said. "He basically said he wanted the U.S. money to be backed by gold, silver and copper."

Nadel, of Montville, N.J., plans to work at Goldman Sachs in Manhattan following his graduation.