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MIDE, Interactive Museum of Economics (MIDE, Museo Interactivo de Economía) or simply MIDE is the first museum in the world dedicated exclusively to economics. The museum was opened in 2006 and is located on Tacuba Street in the historic center of Mexico City. The museum is open to the public and features hands-on exhibits meant to make the basic concepts of economics fun and engaging. The museum is housed in the old Bethlehemite convent and hospital. Before the Bank of Mexico acquired the building in 1990, it was in ruins and filled with debris. It took fifteen years to restore the building to what it probably looked like in the 19th century.〔 ==The museum== The Interactive Museum of Economics is the first museum in the world dedicated exclusively to economics.〔 The museum was opened in 2006 was opened with the sponsorship of the Bank of Mexico, the Nacional Financiera and other government organizations. The museum is open to the public but its focus is on students, teachers and economic professional providing hands-on exhibits meant to be fun and engaging.〔 One reason for the museum is to promote economic education, which is not taught in public schools.〔 The exhibits are aimed at breaking down basic economic concepts in demonstrating how every Mexican affects and is affected by the economy. One conception that the museum seeks to overcome is that economics is boring and only for experts and politicians. The museum’s director also stresses that the museum only serves to educate and promote critical thinking about the science of economics, not a particular political point of view.〔 The museum was awarded the Miguel Covarrubias Prize for the planning of the museum and restoration of the colonial era building. In 2007, the museum had 160,000 visitors and with the number of visitors to the museum growing each month. The museum has five areas “individual economics,” “social economics,” “economics and money,” “government” and “welfare and development,” containing more than fifty interactive exhibits which are distributed on three floors of the building. Visitors can visit a simulated market, observe how money is printed, start a corporation, design their own currency and observe governmental functions such as banking and regulation.〔〔 It has databanks with educational resources, financial and consumer information and more.〔 Unfortunately, only a few of the exhibits provide English descriptions.〔 MIDE added a new room to the museum called “The Future of Money.” This area deals with electronic and other forms of payment. Technical issues covered include creating a digital identity and experimenting with different ways to pay electronically. One possible future innovation explored is the ability to print one’s own credit card. The museum also contains a large numismatic collection from the Bank of Mexico.〔 The coin collection includes the most valuable collection of colonial era coins from Latin America.〔 The Foro Education portion of the museum foundation promotes courses, workshops, seminars and other activities to organizations outside the museum. These events can cover topics such as personal finance, consumer information as well as scholarly topics for professors and other professionals.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Interactive Museum of Economics」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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