The Federal Reserve's New App
If you want to spread your message these days, you'd better have your own iPhone/iPad app .
There are apps which teach CPR, map a dog walk, overwhelm you with Angry Birds…and now there’s one to compare inflation rates at various points in history.
“SIRI, can you tell me the inflation rate in 1956?”
“The inflation rate in 1956 was 1.5 percent, Rock Goddess.”
The app is the brainchild of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, which is giving it away for free. Think of it as QE3 for the mobile lifestyle.
The Econ Ed Mobile Learning App lets you:
- Investigate the cost of goods and services purchased in one year compared with another year.
- Use interactive graphs to compare inflation rates at various points in our nation’s history.
- Examine how interest rates, monthly payments and time can affect the overall cost of using credit.
The image for the app entices you with phrases like "It's your paycheck!" and the always upbeat "Great Depression".
Best part, there are two games "to see how well you can estimate the cost of credit and the price of goods and services over time." Come on down!
What's next from the Fed, a Facebook pagewe can all "like"? Oh wait, there already is one.
You certainly can’t call the crew controlling U.S. monetary policy behind the times, even if, according to some, they’re behind the curve.
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