Can you build a sustainable federal budget?

At an event in Pennsylvania this week, President Biden will unveil his administration’s budget proposal for the coming fiscal year. 

Both congressional Republicans and the White House have pledged to reduce the federal deficit, but doing so while still furthering their policy goals requires trade-offs. 

“The Fiscal Ship,” produced by the Hutchins Center at the Brookings Institution and the Serious Games Initiative, demonstrates that challenge with a game that lets players make their own federal budget proposal. 

“Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal played it with the help of Hutchins Center policy director Louise Sheiner. “We want people to realize that when we talk about taxes and spending and the numbers and the debt, that is not just about the numbers,” Sheiner said. “You really do have a choice about how you want society to run.”

Click the audio player above to hear their conversation or go to fiscalship.org to play the game yourself.