The Savings/Consumption Game: An Update

Jurgen Brauer

Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics

Non-computerized experiment

A few years ago, I published a piece in this journal, entitled "A Savings/ Consumption Game for Introductory Macro-economics" (Brauer, 1994). Following a survey of available classroom games and participatory exercises, I found that most such games address issues of micro-economics, and I therefore set out to design an exercise of potential use in the teaching of introductory macroeconomics. The idea of the exercise is straightforward. Instead of merely presenting to students the graphical representation of the theoretical concept of a consumption function (C = a + bY, where C is consumption and Y is national income), why not simply collect data from the students themselves about how their own consumption (and savings) behavior might be affected if their own income were to change.