Games+Learning+Society 12 Conference

In The Fiscal Ship, a player first chooses up to three governing goals from 10 choices we offer (e.g. reduce inequality, fight climate change, strengthen national defense, or shrink government, etc.). Then the player picks from ~100 tax and spending options (both increases and decreases) to achieve those goals and bring the debt-to-GDP ratio down from a projected 130% in 2041 to 75%, roughly where it is today. In other words, winning requires both achieving your governing goals and stabilizing the debt. The point: It is possible to stabilize the federal debt and pursue other objectives simultaneously, but it takes some hard decisions about taxes and spending to do so.