Monetary Policy Game

"So you want to be in charge of monetary policy? Think you have what is takes to steer our country's central bank? See how it works by taking charge of a simulated economy."

The San Francisco Fed has an online game to explore monetary policy. The player sets interest rates to try to keep unemployment and inflation at their target levels. Assorted shocks, like a tax cut or an oil crisis, create turmoil and the Fed can respond by raising or lowering interest rates. A round takes about 2 minutes to complete and the game can be replayed (different shocks will appear in different rounds.)

The game also has a "learn more" section that discusses the Fed's policy tools, has a series of short videos on past policy, and includes a glossary of economic terms.


http://www.frbsf.org/education/activities/chairman/index.html

Thanks to Philip Mulder for sharing this resource.

Economics and Art Webpage

Purdue University's Michael Watts is developing a website on using art to teach economics.

https://intra.krannert.purdue.edu/sites/econandart/Pages/Home.aspx

Several slideshows are already online, including: "Natural Resources and Agriculture," "Capital Resources and Technology," and "Money, Banking, and Financial Crhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifises." Each slideshow uses paintings and drawings to illustrate the economic concepts. The last slide of each show presents a list of discussion questions relating the pictures and concepts.

More slideshows are planned in coming months, as well as more information on the concepts, artists, and individual artworks.