The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania’s Public Policy Initiative has announced the launch of a breakthrough budget modeling tool.
The Penn Wharton Budget Model Tool aims to allow transparent access to ongoing budget decisions. The tool is accessible online and free of cost to the public and to those involved in legislation.
A team of tech leaders and former government economists from the Treasury Department and the Congressional Budget Office developed the model. Each of the team’s members believes that transparency is the key to effective policy. For the public, using the tool will allow not only an active participation in the political process, but knowledge of issues that affect employment, families, and financial futures.
Professor Kurt Smetters, head of the Budget Model Team, said, “Our goal in [the tool’s creation] is to provide a ‘sandbox’ to test the economic impact of different policy ideas.”
Its use for testing is intended to expand into the public realm with the purpose of educating and informing those that policies affect most.
Emphasizing the fact that the Budget Model is non-partisan, its creators’ goal in launching it was to create a portal to the government’s decision making process in light of recent world economic events.
Available as an app, the tool’s first module will allow users to examine current immigration policies, which the Budget Model’s creators have performed extensive historical studies and future forecasting. Modules for tax and housing reform, healthcare, criminal justice, retirement, and education will follow.
A helpful animation of the tool’s workings can be found on YouTube.