Wharton’s Online Policy Simulator Isn’t Just for Wonks

Computer models that evaluate the impact of government policies are mostly behind closed doors, but one is open to anyone: the Penn Wharton Budget Model, a free tool for testing policy ideas housed at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

The virtual sandbox, which opened last June, has become increasingly popular, with more than 350,000 simulations run in just the past two months, says Kent Smetters, a professor of business economics and public policy at Wharton and the model’s faculty director. Many testers are congressional staffers, and it appears people from the executive branch are using it as well, he says. There are simulators for Social Security, immigration, and taxation.