Before Bank Underground takes a festive break, it’s time for the Annual Bank Underground Christmas Quiz. Test yourself against our 10 festively themed questions on economics, finance and all things central banking…
1) (Currency) Which festive object appears on the back of a commemorative UK 50p coin?
A Christmas Pudding
A reindeer
A brussels sprout
2) (Commodities) The lighting of the Menorah at the Jewish winter festival of Hanukkah recalls the miracle of a jug of oil burning longer than the day it was expected to last. In this early example of commodity consumption, for how many days in total did the jug of oil keep the lamp lit?
Four days
Seven days
Ten days
3) (Monetary Economics) The silver denarius was the main coin used by the Romans in first century Palestine and a key part of the monetary system. In the 15 BCE decree of Caesar Augustus, what was the silver content of the coin?
99%–100%
70%–75%
50%–60%
4) (History of Economic Thought) Which Nobel prize winning economist penned this festive ditty to the tune of Jingle Bells:
‘Maximize, maximize, that’s the crucial key; Allocate resources by their productivity; Equalize VMP’s with their price; and Your production function is the finest in the land.’?
Paul Samuelson
Paul Krugman
Ben Bernanke
5) (International Economics) Which country uses the ‘dram’ as its currency?
Mongolia
Uzbekistan
Cambodia
6) (Economic History) How far back in time would you have to go to find wild reindeers walking in the City of London?
Around 1,000 years
Around 100,000 years
Reindeers never lived in England
7)(Macroeconomics) What is the current projection for CPI inflation according to the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Report on Christmas 2024?
0%
3%
There are no projections
8) (Central Banking) Which darts player shares a name with a central banker and walks out to ‘King of Kings’ by Motorhead?
‘Helicopter’ Ben Bernanke
Alan ‘The Undertaker’ Greenspan
Mark ‘Carnage’ Carney
9) (Economic Theory) Which economist called simple economic textbook models with neat solutions ‘Santa Claus’ – examples in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech?
Milton Friedman
Paul Krugman
Ben Bernanke
10) (Currency Unions) Which central banker said of the euro ‘Whether one is buying a reindeer skin at one end of the continent or a bottle of suntan lotion at the opposite end, the same banknotes will be used without discrimination’?
Wim Duisenberg
Ottmar Issing
Alexandre Lamfalassuy
