Dear Friends and Colleagues,

The creation of a serious educational and science museum in economics is long overdue. While there are many outstanding numismatics collections and a number of excellent, but smaller institutions devoted to particular aspects of economics (such as the Museum of American Financial History and the Bundesbank’s museum of central banking) there is no general museum dedicated to the science of economics. This lack is unfortunate, because a museum can play an important role in encouraging and supporting the growth of economic literacy.

As recent events demonstrate, the case for economic literacy is a strong one. Some knowledge of financial matters is vital to a healthy and well-functioning republic; it gives the public the tools they need to understand and better participate in the world. While schools are critical to increasing economic literacy, they cannot carry the burden of education alone. Thus, the Museum of Money and Financial Institutions, which will help “fill in the gaps” by providing resources for economic literacy that are not available from any other source, and address audiences that traditional education does not.

That is why I am pleased to report that the Museum has made great progress over the past few months.

First, I would like to thank and welcome our Board of Science Advisors. This board is the intellectual foundation for our museum and represents a substantial number of the finest economists in the world. Their generosity and commitment ensure that the Museum has the scholarly resources to meet our goal of increasing economic literacy for people of all ages.

Second, if you are reading this, then you are viewing our new and enhanced “virtual museum.” This website was designed to better represent the scale and scope of our ambitions for the Museum and provide a solid foundation for our expanding base of exhibits. We are proud to be building this virtual museum in collaboration with the International Center for Finance at Yale School of Management. We also look forward to collaboration with other institutions as our exhibit collection grows.

Finally, we are happy to be moving forward with the next stage in development of the Museum, the creation of Economica, a major traveling museum exhibit that will provide a broad overview of the science of economics. Economica will be modeled on Mathematica, the famous exhibit designed by Charles and Ray Eames in 1962 and which still excites museum audiences.

This past year has been a very exciting one for the Museum of Money and Financial Institutions. I welcome you to look around our new website and hope you will join us in the growth of this new institution.

Sincerely,
Martin Shubik

Director
martin.shubik@yale.edu