Recent world trends have made the study of economics more relevant and significant than ever before. Globalization is linking commercial and political relations between countries at a pace and on a scale never before experienced by the world community of nations. World trade has expanded dramatically as more and more countries have opened their markets to foreign products. The foreign trade sector is the fastest growing component of most economies, and trade in services is the most rapidly growing category. Billions of dollars worth of foreign exchange and mutual funds are moved from country to country on a daily basis via electronic transfer over the internet.
Stock markets are no longer the exclusive purview of a few rich nations.
An economic crisis in one nation has the potential to significantly alter the direction and economic performance of many others. Government policy makers are constantly monitoring the economic performance of their countries and adjusting their fiscal, monetary, and trade policies to correct for an undesirable economic imbalance. The standards of living and quality of life for millions of households are affected by these decisions. The Global Economics Game has attempted to capture these exciting events in a game format. It is a CD-ROM computer simulation of macroeconomic activity in a global context.