Economics is all about the dynamics of interactions between people, resources, and the environment. To understand how change works, you need to see it in action. Interactive Economics lets you do just that. Click, drag, type, and see what happens.

Interactive Economics was created at Barnard College by a team of faculty and students led by Rajiv Sethi and Homa Zarghamee, and brought to life by Electric Book Works.

This platform provides an open source code repository and online script for macroeconomic model simulation. It follows a “do-it-yourself” (DIY) approach, empowering users to numerically simulate key macroeconomic models on their own using the open-source programming languages R and Python. Whether you are a university teacher, student, researcher, or an economics enthusiast, our platform offers resources to deepen your understanding of both macroeconomic modelling and coding.

The platform covers an array of macroeconomic models, including canonical textbook models, models from different economic paradigms, and seminal models from the history of economic thought. It bridges a gap between intermediate and advanced level macroeconomics by providing detailed yet accessible treatments of seminal macroeconomic models. Most intermediate macroeconomics textbooks focus on graphical analysis, while advanced level materials are often more mathematical and less accessible. Our platform offers a hands-on and approachable resource for users to build both a solid foundation in modelling and macroeconomic intuition.

The platform’s DIY-approach aims to foster reproducibility and open-source principles in macroeconomic research and education by providing learning materials that are freely available and modifiable by everyone. The platform’s content will expand over time through new entries added by the project team.