The Head of State has the sole power to enact fiscal and monetary policy and to enforce laws. Because the EcoSim economy is not fabricated by the computer, but is the result of true economic forces resulting from the interactions of real consumers and producers, the economic data generated by the simulation provides a wealth of information and examples for econometrics students. Econometrics students can download the macro and micro data generated in the simulation, perform statistical analyses, and construct forecasts of commodity prices, output levels, inflation, gross domestic product, and any of another fifty economic time series and cross sectional data sets. A windows version for use on a PC network is under development. The simulation typically runs twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, over the course of several months.
Students access the simulation as frequently or as infrequently as they deem necessary.
The EcoSim software is almost fully self-sufficient. Because of the small number of companies, players will be most concerned with striking deals with other players, forming cartels and trusts, and establishing monopolies. Several universities have designed laboratory sessions based on EcoSim which run concurrently with the economics classes. While students play EcoSim on their own time outside of class, the laboratory sessions are times in which the students can come together in a more formal setting to make deals, discuss strategies, and perform analyses under the direction of the instructor. The EcoSim software is available free of charge.