Econchamber

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Inspiration

Approximately 50% of U.S. adults are considered financially literate, with studies consistently showing literacy rates hovering around this mark for nearly a decade.

This statistic is most notably attributed to a lack of consistent, mandatory, financial education in schools.

I was inspired to make Econchamber to assist in making financial education simple and more accessible to the average American. Particularly, American teenagers, who are likely on the receiving end of an education system that's neglecting to teach them essential financial knowledge despite being old enough to generate their own incomes.

What it does

Econchamber is a text-based application that provides users with information to educate them on various aspects of economics.

This information includes:

• Different tax systems
• Different economic systems
• The U.S. national debt clock
• The formula to find the tax rate after a purchase $$ ((final price - initial price) / initial price) $$

How I built it

Econchamber was built using VS Code which uses multi-process architecture built with web technologies via the Electron framework

Built with:

• Python
• REST API
• VS Code The python behind Econchamber uses logic to return output to the user depending on their input and utilizes a get request via a REST API to display the U.S national debt clock to users which updates in real time.

Challenges I ran into

The primary challenge I experienced while programming the framework for Econchamber was modifying the source code of a file from a GitHub repository by JustinMiles for the U.S. Debt Clock to integrate a REST API into the Econchamber tech stack. Originally, upon execution, the python file opened a window to show the U.S national debt clock which was updated in real time. However, after modification, the REST API rendered the data requested in the terminal and returned it as the same green color as the rest of the text in Econchamber.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I successfully built a working text based application in python that educates users about various financial topics.

Key achievements include:

• Implementing a REST API to pull data about the U.S. national debt which updates in real time
• Implementing the ANSI green color to give the application a retro-technological and finance aesthetic
• Doing research to include non-partisan information about different economic and tax systems

What I learned

Through this project, I learned:

• How to modify and integrate already existing software from open source repositories into my tech stacks
• How to use ANSI colors in python scripts to make projects more visually appealing
• How to effectively conduct intellectually honest research that critically examines the information found from various biased sources and compile that information into something presentable and non-partisan for users

What's next for Econchamber

I plan to expand Econchamber to include several new features, such as:

• A personal AI assistant that can provide financial advice and information based on data from reliable sources, which it will always cite, and will always leave a disclaimer that it could be wrong, so the user should verify with an additional source(s)
• A specific page dedicated to going in depth about different areas relating to personal finance
• Integrating a database that contains information about notable historical figures that contributed significantly to economic theory

Built With

• api
• github
• python
• vscode