Budget Hero

While listening to NPR the other day I heard them promoting a game that Marketplace had created called Budget Hero. The game is flash based and presents you the budget as it currently exists which includes the automatic repeal of the Bush Tax Cuts in 2012. It then gives you several categories to pick from and there are options in each category that will either add to or take away from the budget.

The options available to choose from seem pretty comprehensive in some areas, specially those areas that are supportive of deeply conservative ideas and neo-liberal economic ideas. At the same time there are other areas that seem deeply lacking, such as ideas that promote progressive ideas. Further some of the explanations are pretty disingenuous such as one option in the health care field. Every option gives you a pro and a con. In the con for adding the Public Option for health care they state that it will kill American innovation with out giving any evidence to support this rather dubious claim pushed by neo-liberals. I haven't finished going through all the options but I'm sure there are plenty more of these discrepancies throughout.

Take some time to play around with the budget and see what you come up with. The budget I came up with reduced our budget deficit to -$70B by 2021 (meaning we will still owe another $70B.). I reduced the debt from 75.5% of GDP in 2012 to 59.2% of GDP in 2021 and I pushed the year in which the current budget would need changes from 2031 to 2034. I also managed to greatly expand the role of the federal government in providing a safety net for most Americans and expanding infra-structure and science and education investment all the while reducing the size of the federal government from 25.9% to 23.6% of GDP.

When you are done they give you a great way to compare your budget to other demographics based on location, income, sex, age, and political affiliation. For reference, my three badges are Safety Net, Competitive Advantage, and Green. You'll understand when you play a round.

-Kris