Budgeting Exercise

    In an effort to gain a direct understanding of the dilemmas facing those who must make public budgets balance, it will be valuable to complete a computer simulation of this process.  The New York City Budget Game will enable you to do this.  Balancing the city's $44+ billion budget presents fascinating opportunities to face and solve difficult problems.  Required decisions may be constrained by both politics and laws.  It is your responsibility to reach such decisions.

    As mayor of the nation's largest city, you must present a balanced budget to the City Council.  In the process you need to develop and rely upon a general orientation/ideology that will guide your specific decisions.  For each decision regarding expenditure and revenue items in the simulation you will need to provide a very brief explanation of your final decision.  You must also summarize your final budget indicating changes you have made on both the expenditure and revenue sides.

    Before you begin the process you need to read carefully Chapter 8 of your text.  You also need to review the information on budgeting process of New York City.

    Each member of the class will have about 7 minutes or so explain her/his decisions and results.  There are no "correct" or "incorrect" choices.  Instead there are difficult choices each of which have desirable and undesirable consequences.