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Making Money Flow: The MONIAC

Reserve Bank of New Zealand · 120.5K views · 2017-08-10 · 4:37

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Overview

A short demonstration of the MONIAC, Bill Phillips' hydro-mechanical economic computer, at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand museum. It shows how water flows model an economy's money flows.

On Hacker News

Brought up as a charming example of analog and liquid computers simulating a national economy.

Recommended by 1 HN people across 1 months · HN mentions 2020–2022

Topics

Microeconomics & behavioral economicsHistory of computingMechanical & precision engineering
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moniacbill phillipsanalog computingeconomicshydraulics

What people said

pseudolus · 2022-06 · Recommendation

I believe one of the earliest applications incorporating this line of thought was MONIAC, the Monetary National Income Analogue Computer, which used water levels to model the economy [0]. There's a short youtube documentary on its history and operation. [1] [0] [LINK] [1] [VIDEO] [VIDEO] (shows operation of MONIAC)

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robocat · 2022-11 · Reference

Here’s an analogue computer called the MONIAC from ~1949 that calculates monetary flow in an economy: [LINK] with a fairly naff video of it operating but captures the essence: [VIDEO] I like the COMPAQ branding added to it!

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Nition · 2022-06 · Reference

This is exactly why MONIAC[0][1] was created in 1949. Not a real computer exactly - it simulates the entire system with water flow. [0] [LINK] [1] [VIDEO]

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Sources

Video by Reserve Bank of New Zealand, played through YouTube.

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