Economic history

Quick modules covering the events that shaped the world economy. Learn what happened and the impact it had, answer questions, and make decisions as if you were the policymaker at the time.

Learn modules are being actively developed and refined. Some modules are publicly available for beta testing, but will continue to be reviewed and improved as part of platform development. Provide feedback at the bottom of this page.

Be notified when new modules launch

Your address joins the Ceteris email list. You can leave at any time, and it is never passed on.

The world economy

Crises, currencies and the decisions that shaped them, wherever they happened.

💸 When Money Stops Working One mechanism, three times, a century apart, in seven parts. What it is like, why it happens, what it takes away, and what it takes to stop one. 7 modules · about 70 min · 3 ready now Free

Britain

The British economy since 1945, taught as the events that shaped it.

🏭 Thatcher's Economic Policy 1979 to 1990, in ten parts. Inflation, the factories, the unions, the miners, the sell-off, Right to Buy, the boom, tax and spending, and whether any of it worked. 13 modules · about 125 min · 13 ready now Free 🏥 What the Pound Cost — 1945 to 1976 1945 to 1979, in six parts. The war debt, the NHS and what it cost, eighteen years defending one exchange rate, four crises and a devaluation, the three-day week, and the IMF. 6 modules · about 60 min · 6 ready now Free
🇪🇺 Britain and Europe Two referendums, one currency Britain never joined, and the day it left the exchange rate mechanism. 2 modules · about 20 min · being written Coming soon Free
🏦 The 2008 Financial Crisis 2006 to 2025, in seven parts. The loans, the bonds they were turned into, how it reached Britain, the weekend Lehman went, the banks the state bought, the recession, and what came back. 7 modules · about 75 min · 7 ready now Free

The United States

The American economy, from the crash of 1929 onwards.

📉 The Great Depression 1929 to 1939, in seven parts. The crash that was not the cause, nine thousand banks, the promise about gold that every country broke, what it did to the people who lived through it, and what actually ended it. 7 modules · about 70 min · 7 ready now Free

How a module works

  1. Three to nine steps. Each carries a short piece of the story, one number shown large, and one question. A module runs 5 to 15 minutes on a phone, and every card says its step count and its length before you start.
  2. You guess before you are told. Every step asks a question first, and most ask you to estimate a figure before the answer appears. You are not expected to know the answers. Missing by five times is what fixes a number in the memory, and reading it does very little.
  3. One step puts you in the chair. Most modules carry a decision a real person had to make with no good options, with the figures they had in front of them. You choose, then you find out what they chose and what followed. Nothing is marked wrong.
  4. Every term is explained. Tap any underlined word for what it means, so a module works with no economics behind you.
  5. Every figure is sourced. Each number names where it came from and links to it. Where two respectable sources disagree, the module says so and gives both.
  6. It ends somewhere. A recap of the numbers, a score, and routes into the games and the country pages for the places the module covered.

Country data from the World Bank (CC BY 4.0) and the UNDP Human Development Report (CC BY 3.0 IGO)
Games · Learn · Atlas · Privacy