Hawkeye Play
How economies hold together
Three small games about cooperation, shared resources and debt. Play, watch, then change one setting.
Small games about how economies hold together. In each chapter you play a few rounds yourself, then watch the same rules run many times, then change one setting. The models use made-up numbers. They show what the model does under the settings you pick. They do not say which setting anyone should choose.
More chapters are planned. Each one reports what its model does; none recommends a policy.
Chapter 1 · Political · Economic · Legal
Trade or tariff
Two countries trade every year. Each year, each can keep its market open or put up a tariff. What happens depends on whether they expect to meet again.
Model: Repeated prisoner’s dilemma (Axelrod & Hamilton 1981; Axelrod 1984)
Chapter 3 · Environmental · Social · Legal
The shared pasture
Four herders share one pasture. The grass grows back, but only so fast. Each season, each herder decides how much to take.
Model: Common-pool resources (Hardin 1968; Ostrom 1990)
Chapter 5 · Economic · Political
Interest and growth
A government owes money equal to 60% of its economy’s yearly output. Interest is due every year, and the economy grows. Does the debt ratio rise or fall?
Model: Public debt dynamics (Escolano 2010; Blanchard 2019)