Can cartoons help you understand our monetary system?

The New York Federal Reserve Bank has been publishing educational cartoon booklets for 50 years. Saturday’s WSJ had an article about them, and noted that some are pretty good, and some not so. The writer thought some were suitable for younger children than the age rating. I browsed the catalog, and the prices are very reasonable--quantity for classroom use, and I think they would be great for libraries and homeschoolers. My public library doesn't own any of them, but I've sent the suggestion to their round file.

Titles in the comic book series as of the NY Fed website in 1999 included:

The Story of Banks;
The Story of Checks and Electronic Payments;"
The Story of Monetary Policy;
The Story of Money;
Too Much, Too Little, (on the origins of the Federal Reserve System);
A Penny Saved;
Once Upon A Dime;
The Story of Foreign Trade and Exchange;
The Story of the Federal Reserve System.

But more have been added at the catalog home page:

The Story of Consumer Credit,
The Story of Inflation,
Wishes and Rainbows (supplement to a film, Boston Federal Reserve)

While I was looking for these titles in the computer catalog of the PL, I again faced the frustration of its messed up alphabetic sort system--some titles that begin with "THE" sort that way--not all, just enough of them to throw off your search. "The story of banks" brings up "The world. . .", "Thea's", and "Theater." Other times you actually need the word "The" or the title doesn't appear. Also in searching "Federal Reserve" as an author, I learned that its economic periodical the library used to own is now available on-line, but the catalog doesn't provide the hot link. Any library software that can't hot link to free publications needs to upgrade.

Can't wait for the cartoon version? Read in the Jan-Feb 2007 issue of Review (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) "Understanding the Fed," by William Poole.

Educate yourself, your organization, your employees, your ethnic or religious group or your students with these resources, cited in Ben Bernanke's Testimony about Financial Literacy before the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate, May 2006--tours, workshops, curriculum packages, essay contests, DVD and video instruction.

Federal Reserve Banks
Federal Reserve System
monetary policy
cartoon books
financial education