I originally wanted you to analyze pending legislation and specifically look at the economic impact, however in my research I ran across this assignment from my department chair. You will need to play the game called The Fiscal Ship. In order to win the game you will need to increase revenue/decrease spending while balancing the well-being of American residents. I actually enjoyed playing the game, it took me back to my gaming days. Personally, I found it difficult to pay for all of the policies that I believe in. Hopefully, you will fair better than I did and be able to balance the budget.
The only goal that I have for this discussion is that you have a better understanding of how difficult it is to balance public policy and to pay for it. While candidates are campaigning for elected office, they usually have lofty platforms (policies) and ideas of how to improve society. They usually do not spend a great deal of time discussing the specifics on how they plan to pay for those polices. I only ask that you attempt to play the game. I completely understand if you are not into gaming or having difficulty playing the game. You may play the game or scroll to the bottom of the page to Option B.
Here are the directions with the citation at the end. Have fun!
Option A: Play the game or at least attempt to play the game.
Saving Our Fiscal Ship
This assignment puts youthe studentin charge of attending to the long-term health and well-being of the United States of America (no small task!). Utilizing a simulation created for the Brookings Institution called The Fiscal Ship, you will learn about the relationships that exist between federal decision-makers and the numerous policy decisions they make in a highly political environment. Given the condition of the national debt and ongoing levels of deficit spending, you are tasked with no less than saving the country by mid-century!
About the Game
The Fiscal Ship (http://fiscalship.org/) challenges you to put the federal budget on a sustainable course. Measured as a share of gross domestic product, the federal debt is higher than at any time since the end of World War II and projected to climb to unprecedented levels. America is looking at a permanent, growing mismatch between revenues and spending, and policymakers are faced with difficult decisions about how to reconcile important government prioritiesincluding retirement and health benefits promised to the growing number of old folkswith the tax revenues that the current tax code will yield. Todays tax code wont yield enough revenue to pay for basic services of government plus the retirement and health benefits promised to the growing number of old folks. So your mission is to pick from a menu of tax and spending options to reduce the debt from projected levels over the next 25 years. Small changes to spending and taxes wont suffice. The choices are difficult, but the goal is achievable.
But budget decisions arent only about fiscal sustainability. They also shape the kind of country we live in. To win the game, you need to find a combination of policies that match your values and priorities AND set the budget on a sustainable course.
Instructions:
If you are having difficulty navigating the game, you may want to follow the steps below:
Open the game.
Select “New Game”.
Enter a name or initial and select “Play”.
Read the directions and select Lets Get Started!.
Select Give Me Goals and Lets Go If you are comfortable navigating the game, feel free to select Choose My Own and then select 3 goals that align with your ideology.
The next page will list of categories that organize public policies. To start, select In the News. Click on each policy under In the News, read through them, and determine if that aligns with your 3 goals (they are listed to the right of the screen under Target) and your ideology. Each policy that you select will give you a description of the policy and tell you how it will impact spending. (Once you choose a policy, it will either Increase Spending, Decrease Spending, Decrease Revenue, or Increase Revenue.) To view more policy categories, click on the arrows next to the category. Remember, the object of the game is to select polices that you are passionate about (immigration reform, climate change, etc.) and figure out how to pay for them.
Once you have viewed and selected your chosen policies, select View My Plan in the bottom left corner. View My Plan will show the progress that you are making in meeting your original goals.
Feel free to review and revise your selected policies. You may want to think about this from the point-of-view of an elected official. What do the constituents in your district need? What campaign promises did you make? Who do you owe favors to? If you received large donations from the oil and gas industry, then you may have to think about raising their taxes or tightening EPA regulations.
Select Submit on the bottom left hand corner, when you feel that you have met your goals.
If you found the game interesting and would like an additional challenge, try the completing the items below:
Run the simulation three separate times so that you can observe the outcomes through the lenses of the three different broad Governing Goals you select (or let the game choose the goals for you).
For example, make your first run Fiscal Hawk, where your three goals are to Lower future debt, greater future opportunity, Were borrowing from the future, and Live within our means.
Make your second run Invest in the Future and your goals Invest now for rewards later, Improve our roads and airports, and Invest in innovation.
Finally, for your third run, choose the goal to Reduce inequality with the goals of What about the 99%, Were too rich to accept poverty, and Share the wealth.
Your choices should reflect different ideological preferences so that you experience different kinds of results. Each time you run the simulation, look for changes in the budget projections. You will notice these as you tinker with policy decisions.
Discussion Questions
To complete this assignment, answer 2-3 of the questions below in essay format. Do not forget to follow the discussion rubric.
How did the policy choices differ among the three Governing Goals you selected?
How difficult was it to pursue your goals while also hitting the debt target?
Did the policy options have the impactseither on your fiscal target or governing goalsthat you expected?
Did some choices have bigger or smaller impacts on the debt than you had anticipated? What were they?
What do you think the political obstacles would be to enacting your plan?
What did you learn from doing this exercise that you didnt already know?
Do not forget to include 1 cited source for this discussion.
Brookings & Woodrow Wilson Center. (n.d.). The Fiscal Ship. Retrieved on February 2, 2021 from http://fiscalship.org
Shay, C. (2020). Saving Our Fiscal Ship Simulation and Writing Assignment. Retrieved on February 2, 2021 from https://educate.apsanet.org/resource/04-16-2020/saving-our-fiscal-ship-simulation-and-writing-assignment
Option B: If playing the game was not your cup of tea, you may complete the assignment below.
Find an article that describes the difficulty of passing legislation or public policy while balancing the federal budget. Answer 2-3 of the questions below.
How can the supporters of the policy raise revenue or increase spending to pay for the policy? What fiscal or political hurdles can you predict? Who is the biggest political adversary to the policy and how to you overcome the negative press? Who will benefit and who will be disadvantaged from the policy? Which federal agencies are needed to enact the policy and what functions to they provide?
Tips for Completing Discussion Prompts
-Please see the discussion grading rubric below and my clarification notes.
-For the first discussion, you will not need to cite a source because you are only introducing yourself to the class. However, be sure to use 6-8 complete sentences and proper grammar.
-A student must have 1 clear response to each discussion prompt. Submitting several responses to a post will not suffice for a grade. Students will be graded on the quality of a discussion post, not on how many students they reply to. Please see the syllabus for questions regarding bonus points.
-When you reference an article you should cite the article as a source. For each discussion, I will always provide a cited article and questions to prompt your dialogue. When you complete a discussion you should copy and paste the cited article that I provide into your answer. All work must be cited using MLA or APA format.
-To receive a 15/16 on a discussion grade, you will need to demonstrate that you have researched relevant articles outside of the course to support your opinion. Your post must demonstrate that your opinion is backed by facts.
Discussion Grading Rubric
15 Points: Student responded to the discussion prompt in 6-8 complete sentences and articulated a clear viewpoint on the topic. Student incorporated relevant research, correctly cited at least 2 sources in MLA or APA format, and used proper grammar.
(Students must provide an above average viewpoint on the discussion prompt, answer the question(s) in the discussion prompt, incorporate relevant research and should cite the article used in the discussion prompt along with additional research.)
10 Points: Student responded to the discussion prompt in 6-8 complete sentences and answered the prompt in a thoughtful manner. Student correctly cited work in MLA or APA format and used proper grammar.
(Students must answer the question(s) in the discussion prompt, provide more support to answer the prompt other than their personal opinion and cite the article used in the discussion prompt.)
7 Points: Student responded to the discussion prompt in 6-8 complete sentences and articulated a clear viewpoint on the topic. Student used proper grammar.
3 Points: Student responded to the discussion prompt in 4-5 sentences and answered the prompt in a generic manner. Student used proper grammar.
0 Points: Student did not submit a discussion post. Student plagiarized portions of the submission. Student did not cite work and/or use proper grammar.
Citing Sources
Purdue Writing Lab is a great website to use when citing sources. Every cited source should have the following: authors name, title of article, name of source, date and link to article. There are exceptions when citing sources and as long as the link is attached, I can verify if the source was cited correctly.
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