FedSimulator Version 1.1

Getting Started:

Once you click on the link to the FedSimulator the applet will appear as pictured below:

Before you begin your career as chairmen of the Federal Reserve, you must select the economic event you wish to occur in the course of your game.  To select an event, click on the arrow pointing down beneath "Please Select an Economic Event." A menu will drop down like the one below:

Simply move the mouse to the event you would like and click, or use the arrows on your keyboard and then press enter.  Next, you must choose whether you would like the shock to come in the first round of play or a randomly chosen round.  Upon start up, the game will randomly select which round to shock. To experience the economic event in the first round, click on the white circle to the left of "Randomly choose shock round." After you click on the circle, it will turn black signaling it is no longer selected, and thus the game will not randomly choose a round for you. Finally, you must specify how many rounds you would like to play.  To do so, use the mouse to click in the field to the right of "Rounds." Type the number of rounds you would like to play and then click on the "Play Game" tab at the top.

Playing the Game

Once you have clicked on the Play Game tab, you will be presented with the following screen:

The white blocks on the left hand side of the screen are graphs for the money growth rate, the inflation rate, and the unemployment rate over time respectively.  As you play, the graphs will plot your rates.  The upper right hand portion of the screen displays the current date (in the game), money growth rate, inflation rate, and unemployment rate.  Beneath these rates, text reads "What do you want to do to the Money Growth Rate?." Using the graphs to the left to see what the past rates are, and the current rates shown in the upper right, you must decide to raise, lower, or do nothing to the money growth rate. 

Raising the Money Growth Rate:

To raise the mgr, click in the text field to the right of the Raise/ Lower buttons.  Enter the percentage you would like to raise it by and then click the Raise button.  If your action produces a significant change in either the inflation rate or the unemployment rate, the change will not occur all at once, but rather the program will stagger the change.  As the program steps through the change you will not be able to change the mgr anymore.  Once the program has finished updating the rates, you will be able to affect the mgr once again.

Lowering the Money Growth Rate:

To lower the mgr, click in the text field to the right of the Raise/ Lower buttons.  Enter the percentage you would like to lower it by and then click the Lower button. Note, do not enter a negative value.  If your action produces a significant change in either the inflation rate or the unemployment rate, the change will not occur all at once, but rather the program will stagger the change.  As the program steps through the change you will not be able to change the mgr anymore.  Once the program has finished updating the rates, you will be able to affect the mgr once again.

Keeping the Money Growth Rate the Same:

If you wish to keep the mgr the same from one round to the next, simply enter 0 in the field next to the Raise/Lower buttons and then click either the Raise button or the Lower button.

Ending the Game:

The program will tell you when you have finished the game and display your score at the bottom of the screen.  The score represents how close you kept the inflation rate and the unemployment rate to 5 %.  If you wish to end a game early, but play more with new settings, click on the Options tab at the top of the screen.  If you wish to quite entirely, simply close your browser.