SOUNDING BOARD is an outlet for opinions on good and crazy things going on at home (wherever I may be). All are welcome. You are not expected to bring anything except your common sense & sense of humor.
'If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get one million miles to the gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside.'
-Robert X. Cringely (from geek wisdom)
SOUNDING BOARD
Sunday, June 15, 2003
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Featured software: UC Berkeley's The National Budget Simulation
The National Budget Simulation was created in 1995 by Anders Schneiderman and Nathan Newman, then co-directors of UC-Berkeley's Center for Community Economic Research. The simulation allows web users get a sense of the balancing act involve in coming up with the national budget of US.
I must say this is a very interesting and informative piece of software. Some of us may find it useful for teaching exercises and even workshops.
I had a problem getting into the details of what the budget category includes. I encountered errors after clicking the linked categories. Having no way of knowing the coverage of categories, I assume that official development assistance is included in 'international affairs'? I wonder what other things are included in that category.
I may be very naive but I hope some sort of a generic software counterpart (wherein we could edit the categories and assumptions so we can tailor-fit the simulation within specific country settings) may be developed. Yes, that would be quite naive. Two words: copyright and money.
Lastly, budgets of different countries are always influenced by lobby groups and priorities and political leanings of the current administration. It maybe be more interesting (and useful without taking away the simplicity of the technology) to factor in these political contraints. For example, if a lobby group is quite influential in one budget category, the web user is limited to a certain range (so as not to lessen the unpopularity of a budget cut for instance).
