Comic books, strips and graphic novels have often been part of unofficial propaganda—remember the Cold War?—but lately, they seem to have become part of official messaging. The US Federal Reserve, no Marvel or DC, has published more than two dozen comics since the 1950s. The latest, the sci-fi styled The Story of Monetary Policy, was published last week. It deals with the daily, commonplace struggles of money—collecting, spending, saving and wasteful expenditure. Similarly, in the other comics published by the central bank, the message embedded pertains to financial education, soundness and wisdom.
An older Fed publication, Once Upon a Dime, is a fairy tale about the origins of money set on an imaginary island. The Fed’s incorporation of such creative breadth into their work enables the desired message of financial soundness to be understood to a greater extent by the readers, because the medium of the message is likely to have wider appeal. RBI’s financial education initiative is a programme intended to create awareness about sound financial decision making, end-consumer protection rights, and the different financial products and services on offer by the financial system of the country. India’s central bank, too, has designed interactive content such as a Financial Awareness Messages booklet, targeted financial literacy content for five groups, and audio-visual matter for the general public on digital transactions and UPI.
While Marvel and Disney have their universe of heroes, villains, humans and aliens, Fed comics have their penny pincher, profligate and blue collar workers. The million dollar question is whether the comics can come to the Earth’s rescue and help fight risky financial behaviour that precipitated a crisis like the 2008 recession?