Rebecca Craigie – Analyst, Research team, Economics Department
Rebecca joined the Bank as a graduate in early 2010, after completing a B.Com Honours degree in Economics and a B.A in History at the University of Canterbury. “When I began my studies I intended to major in marketing. However, I took a first year macroeconomics course as a pre-requisite and enjoyed it so much that I decided to switch!”
Rebecca’s first year at the Bank has been all about learning, with her placement in the Research team in the Economics Department providing her with plenty of opportunities to learn from senior economists. “My team is made up of people from a variety of economic backgrounds that all specialise in particular areas, and are always willing to answer any questions that I have. This support is also Bank-wide, whether it is in the form of feedback during department presentations or a casual chat at someone’s desk.”
The focus of her work so far has been on incorporating banks into general equilibrium macroeconomic models to develop an understanding of how shocks to New Zealand’s financial sector can impact the real economy. “I’m fortunate to be working with a colleague who has been guiding me through the research process and is happy to share her extensive knowledge on both theoretical and real-world aspects.”
Rebecca says that she was impressed by the level of respect and responsibility given to new graduates. “Graduates are given the opportunity to present and discuss their work at high-level meetings – there aren’t many organisations where graduates are given access to senior policy makers in their first year.” She says that the level of training and encouragement that the Bank offers graduates is exceptional, with courses on business writing and grammar, presentation skills, and speed-reading being among the highlights. “The Bank also encourages staff to attend courses that are directly targeted towards their specific learning requirements. I was lucky enough to attend a course on macroeconomic (DSGE) modelling in Amsterdam during the year.”
One thing that surprised Rebecca when joining the Bank was how social it was. “We have department drinks most Fridays, as well as Bank social events every month or so. This year we had a movie quiz night that was a lot of fun, and more than a little competitive!” Rebecca recently joined the Bank’s Social Club, who organise events throughout the year including the ‘Trot around the Bot’ race around the botanical gardens and the mid-year ball. “Another graduate and I also organised this year’s Economics Department overnight trip,” she says ”which was a great opportunity to get to know our colleagues a bit better, especially those whom we don’t usually interact with on a regular basis.”
Overall, Rebecca is happy that she started her career with the Reserve Bank. “The level of encouragement and support given to new graduates is outstanding, and it is great to feel as though you are contributing to an organisation that improves the wellbeing of New Zealanders.”
A day in the life of Rebecca Craigie
I usually start my day by reading through updates on international and domestic market events sent by the Financial Markets Department. Even though I am not directly involved in reporting on market developments, I think it is important to keep up to date with movements in global and local markets.
I’ll then move on to an aspect of my research programme. At the moment I am researching how the financial sector can impact the real economy, focusing on what are known as ‘macroprudential’ policies in particular. These policies include regulations such as capital requirements to improve the resilience of banks to macroeconomic shocks, liquidity policies such as the one the Bank has recently implemented, and accounting regulations surrounding provisions against loan losses. I’m working with a colleague to develop open-economy macroeconomic models that include banking sectors, so that we can try to understand the likely impacts of various macroprudential policies on the New Zealand economy, and how they may interact with monetary policy.
I spend a fair amount of time reading the literature to see what approaches have been taken in the past, and thinking how some of these models could be tailored to a New Zealand context. I also spend time improving my technical understanding of these models, and learning how to use the various computer programs that solve and run them.
To help formulate the structure of the model, and to ensure that it matches the New Zealand data as accurately as possible, I also spend time doing empirical work. I find it beneficial to alternate between technical and empirical work, so that I have variety. Sometimes I will also be preparing slides for a presentation to the department, or writing up an aspect of my work into a Reserve Bank discussion paper. These papers are then usually submitted to external journals. I also helped write an article for the Reserve Bank Bulletin earlier this year.
During the week there is usually at least one presentation to attend by a member of the department, visiting academic or central banker, or I may go across the road to Treasury to attend a presentation there. We are fortunate to have many distinguished economists visit and present at the Bank. This September we had a two-day visit from Peter Diamond; a few weeks later he was announced as one of 2010’s Nobel Prize winners. We also recently held a conference at the Bank on the transmission of international shocks to small open economies (such as New Zealand), and I was able to attend presentations by numerous experts in the field.
Some days I will also give presentations to students from high schools around the country in our museum. Not only is this a great opportunity to improve my public speaking, it is also very rewarding to see students’ enthusiasm when you tell them what the Bank’s objectives are and how we operate (although they are always the most enthusiastic about the money we circulate, and the vault far below their feet!).
Before I leave for the day I usually read the financial market update sent around late afternoon. If new data has been released I read through the reports sent by the Forecasting team that interpret this data and what it may mean for our economy.
