This simulation allows web users to get a feel for the actual dollar numbers at stake in the debate and the NBS rapidly became a standard tool in classrooms across the country, while national media from The New York Times to Business Week highlighted the tool during the budget crisis. As the government was shutdown, C-SPan made the site their "Web Site of the Week" and interviewed one of its designers, Nathan Newman.
The site was not updated after 1995, but Berkeley continued to host the simulation on their computers until 2002. Since the university could no longer host the site any longer, the software was moved to its present location. Given that the federal deficit had once again exploded in size, this seemed like a good time to update the budget numbers on the simulation at the same time.
This simulation asks you to adjust spending and tax expenditures in the 2002 budget to achieve either a balanced budget or any other target deficit. In order to make the choices we face in the budget clearer, we assume that you make the adjustments all in one year.
Why this simulation uses a one-year budget rather than projections over a number of years.
How to play the game.
What categories of spending are used in this simulation?
Why tax expenditures are treated like general spending in this simulation.
Selecting a positive such as +10% increases government spending.
Selecting a negative such as Eliminate or Cut 10% decreases government spending.