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Our modern version of MONOPOLY® will be a hit over the next few years when families once again as in the 1930s find themselves with too much extra time on their hands and looking for ways not to strangle each other, and learn how the economy really works in the bargain
Parker Bros. introduced the family board game MONOPOLY® in 1935 during the depths of The Great Depression. The original game was reportedly invented in 1904 by a Quaker woman named Elizabeth J. Magie Phillips who hoped to use it as a teaching tool to explain the single tax theory of Henry George, specifically to illustrate the negative aspects the concentrating of land ownership by monopolies. She called her game The Landlord's Game.
As a MONOPOLY® game player you get to collect and handle money, even if it’s only money printed on brightly colored paper one grade above bathroom tissue. It gave millions a chance to handle fake money at a time when no one had any real money. Thus the broad appeal -- over 250 million sets of the game have been sold worldwide.
One of our members asked (Hat tip to iTuliper don), if the game were to come out during the now developing depression following the collapse of the FIRE Economy versus in the 1930s, how might the game look today? Here we bring the old Depression era favorite up to date as the iTulip game: OLIGOPOLY.
Unlike the original game, in our updated version the player is not in the happy role of aspiring monopolist landlord but rather on the other side of the equation, the hapless wage and salary earner, whose every engagement in economic life -- from housing to education to health care to transportation -- is subject to economic rents, especially interest on debt. The role of the player of our OLIGOPOLY game is not the rentier who adds the costs but the renter who pays them.
The term “Rent” in our new game refers to economic rent, money earned on money versus the money a landlord charges tenants. Economic rents are excess charges such as interest on debt that add to prices without adding value -- to automobiles, health care, tuitions -- anything purchased on credit that was, before the FIRE Economy, formerly purchased with cash. By applying credit to the purchase of non-traded goods and services, lo and behold, prices if non-traded goods purchased on credit are up in real terms. Surprise! Only the prices of depreciating goods, such as consumer electronics, purchased on credit have fallen in price during the rise of the FIRE Economy since 1980, due to technological improvements and low wage rates in producing countries.
OLIGOPOLY brings the game rules are brought up to date, starting with the stated object of the game. MONOPOLY® states the object as “to become wealthiest player through buying, renting and selling of property” when in fact the object was to be the last player standing after all the others went bankrupt. OLIGOPOLY makes this object explicit. We list the old rules in gray along with the new in black for your comparison.
We’re glad to sell the copyright to our new game to any reasonably earnest entrepreneur. The game tries to closely mimic the real FIRE Economy world. We have found in our extensive game tests (one) that most players go bankrupt and lose the game in an hour or less while others play on and on – we’d guess for days except that the losers tend to come back, flip the board over, kick the board pieces around the room, and demand "change."
Warning: OLIGOPOLY is far more complicated than MONOPOLY®. It is best played with a lawyer, accountant, finance expert, and a psychotherapist advising each player. You can try to go it alone, but you will probably lose.
Official MONOPOLY® Game Rules versus Official OLIGOPOLY Game Rules
OBJECT
MONOPOLY®: The object of the game is to become the wealthiest player through buying, renting and selling of property.
OLIGOPOLY: The object of the game is to be the last player to go bankrupt.
EQUIPMENT
MONOPOLY®: The equipment consists of a board, 2 dice, tokens, 32 houses and 12 Hotels. There are 16 Chance and 16 Community Chest cards, 28 Title Deed cards (one for each property), and play money.
OLIGOPOLY: The equipment consists of a board, 2 dice, tokens , 32 Houses and 12 Condo complexes, 2 Universities, 2 Hospitals, 2 Car dealerships, 2 Insurance companies, 2 Walmarts, 2 Home Depots, and 1 Starbucks. There are 16 Chance and 16 Propaganda cards, 28 Title Deed cards (one for each property), and 1 calculator with 10-player account display.
MONOPOLY®: Each player is represented by a small metal token that is moved around the edge of the board according to the roll of two dice. The twelve playing pieces: a wheelbarrow, a battleship, a sack of money, a horse and rider, a car, a train, a thimble, a howitzer, an old style shoe, a Scottie dog, an iron, and a top hat.
OLIGOPOLY: Each player is represented by a small plastic token that is moved around the edge of the board according to the roll of two dice. The twelve playing pieces: a flat panel TV, a lawn mower, a six pack of beer, a garage door opener, an Humvee, a hamburger, a bag of Cheetos, a nuclear missile, a gram of coke, a pallet of $100 bills, a taser, and a Glock.
PREPARATION
MONOPOLY®: Place the board on a table and put the Chance and Community Chest cards face down on their allotted spaces on the board. Each player chooses one token to represent them while traveling around the board. Each player is given $1500 divided as follows:
2 $500's, 2 $100's, 2 $50's, 6 $20's, 5 $10's, 5 $5's, and 5 $1's.
All remaining money and other equipment go to the Bank.
OLIGOPOLY: Place the board on a table and put the Chance and Propaganda cards face down on their allotted spaces on the board. Each player chooses one token to represent them while traveling around the board. There is no cash used. Each player starts with a Net Worth Account containing $70,000 (the median net worth of a U.S. household in 2007), a credit card with a starting $5,000 limit that charges $8% interest, and a credit rating of 800. Alternatively, OLIGOPOLY can be played in Class-Aware form, with four different Net Worth and Credit Account starting points (recommended).
- Home plate: $500,000,000 Net Worth, $50,000,000 Credit Limit
- Third base: 5,000,000 Net Worth, $500,000 Credit Limit
- Second base: $500,000 Net Worth, $50,000 Credit Limit
- First base: $50,000 Net Worth, $5,000 Credit Limits
Each player is issued credit cards and limited to the number that the player can hold in two hands without dropping any. For each credit card, increase Credit Limit by the number of cards times the starting credit limit. The player's Credit Account balance may exceed the player's net worth, as is the case for the bottom 40th percentile of U.S. households.
BANKER
MONOPOLY®: Select as Banker a player who will also make a good Auctioneer. A Banker who plays in the game must keep their personal funds separate from those of the Bank.
OLIGOPOLY: All players play against the Banker. All property belongs to the Banker, who also controls the rules of credit and the issuance of money. Instead of a Banker, OLIGOPOLY has an Accountant whose role is to enter in the starting Net Worth Account and Credit Card Account amount for each player, decrement or increment each by various payments, fines, fees, penalties, taxes, salaries, tips, awards, and winnings, and calculate mortgage payments and other variable per-turn costs.
THE BANK
MONOPOLY®: Besides the Bank's money, the Bank holds the Title Deeds, and the houses and hotels prior to purchase by the players. The Bank pays salaries and bonuses. It sells and auctions properties and hands out the proper Title Deed cards when purchased by a player, it also sells houses and hotels to the players and loans money when required on mortgages.
OLIGOPOLY: Besides the Bank's money, the Bank holds the Title Deeds, and the houses, condo complexes, hospitals, universities, and all structures on the properties. The players earn salaries at GO and attempt to pay off all of their debts to the Bank taken out as auto loans, student loans, hospital bills, fees, taxes and so on, to the Bank and the State before going bankrupt. The last to go bankrupt wins. If played in Class-Aware mode, the player may begin play debt-free, or by drawing a winning State Lottery, Political Favor, or Windfall Profit card from Chance, a player may pay off all debts and be debt free for a period, but due to inflation in the prices of tuitions, health insurance, and other expenses paid on credit to the Bank, after ten times around the board the player will invariably be in debt again. The Bank pays salaries, bonuses, etc. It provides loans and conducts property sales transactions, earning interest on the loans and fees on each transaction. It also sells houses and condos to the players and loans money on mortgages.
MONOPOLY®: The Bank collects all taxes, fines, loans and interest, and the price of all properties which it sells and auctions. The Bank "never goes broke." If the Bank runs out of money, the Banker may issue as much as needed by writing on any ordinary paper.
OLIGOPOLY : The Bank collects all taxes, fines, loans and interest, and the price of all properties which it sells and auctions. The Bank never “goes broke." If the Bank runs out of money, the Banker goes to the Central Bank or Treasury Dept. for more money.
THE PLAY
MONOPOLY®: Starting with the Banker, each player in turn throws the dice. The player with the highest total starts the play. Place your token on the corner marked "GO", then throw the dice and move your token (in the direction of the arrow) the number of spaces indicated by the dice.
OLIGOPOLY: In Class-Aware mode (recommended) each player in turn throws the dice to determine the player’s Class Status (First Base, Second Base, Third Base, or Home Plate according to the layout of the field in American baseball) that determines how much money and debt each player has at the start of the game, which schools they can get into to gain access to employment, how much money they earn when they pass GO, and whether or not they ever go to jail.
Dice rolls and Class Designations
2 or 12: Born on Home Plate
11 or 3: Born on Third Base
10 or 4: Born on Second Base
All others: Born on First Base
Players may choose to declare the Class Status of Entrepreneur rather than rolling the dice to determine Class Status. As Entrepreneur you start off with the same net worth and other privileges afforded to those with Born on First Base status. However, for every 100 turns around the board that the Entrepreneur survives without going bankrupt, the Entrepreneur advances one class status. 11 or 3: Born on Third Base
10 or 4: Born on Second Base
All others: Born on First Base
Once Class Status is established players may change status upward one level by drawing a Lucky Break CHANCE card, and change status downward one level by drawing a Bernie Maddoff CHANCE card. The player’s Net Worth Account is decremented or incremented by the difference between the old and new Class Designation starting Net Worth levels (e.g., from Born on Second Base to Born on Third Base $5,000,000 - $500,000 = $4,500,000).
After rolling the dice to determine Class Status, whoever rolled the highest total starts the play. Place your token on the corner marked "GO", then throw the dice and move your token (in the direction of the arrow) the number of spaces indicated by the dice. Pick up a PROPAGANDA card from the top of the deck, read it, and replace if face down on the bottom of the deck.
MONOPOLY®: Depending on the space your token reaches, you may be entitled to buy real estate or other properties, or be obliged to pay rent, pay taxes, draw a Chance or Community Chest card, Go To Jail, or etc...
OLIGOPOLY: Depending on the space your token reaches, you are never entitled to buy real estate or other properties but are always obliged to make mortgage payments, make a credit card minimum payment, buy a $4.95 coffee at StarBucks, an yard cleaning appliance at Home Depot, a TV at Walmart, pay taxes, draw a Chance card, Go To Jail, or etc. Each time a player lands on a space, a House, Condo Complex, Hospital, or other structure is erected on that property, until all structures are used up, depending on the sum value of the dice rolled in that play:
2: Insurance Company
3: University
4: Home Depot
5: Starbucks
6 or 7: House
8 or 9: Condo Complex
10: Auto Dealership
11: Walmart
12: Hospital
Multiple houses may be built on a property but only one of any other kind, Hospital, University, etc. 3: University
4: Home Depot
5: Starbucks
6 or 7: House
8 or 9: Condo Complex
10: Auto Dealership
11: Walmart
12: Hospital
GO
MONOPOLY®: Each time a player's token lands on or passes over GO, whether by throwing the dice or drawing a card, the Banker pays that player a $200 salary.
OLIGOPOLY: Each time a player's token lands on or passes over GO, whether by throwing the dice or drawing a card, the Banker pays that player a salary depending on the players’ Class Status:
- Home plate: $2,000,000
- Third base: 200,000
- Second base: $20,000
- First base: $2,000
BUYING PROPERTY
MONOPOLY®: Whenever you land on an unowned property you may buy that property from the Bank at its printed price. You receive the Title Deed card showing ownership. Place the title deed card face up in front of you. If you do not wish to buy the property, the Bank sells it at through an auction to the highest bidder. The high bidder pays the Bank the amount of the bid in cash and receives the Title Deed card for that property.
OLIGOPOLY: There are no unowned properties as all are owned by the Bank. You owe a mortgage on that property to the Bank at its printed price. You may receive the Title Deed card showing ownership in the unlikely event you manage to pay off your mortgage.
PAYING RENT
MONOPOLY®: When you land on a property that is owned by another player, the owner collects rent from you in accordance with the list printed on its Title Deed card.
OLIGOPOLY: When you land on any space, you owe the relevant fees and charges for the services indicated by the structure on the property, and you may buy a minimum of one but as many items -- cars, cups of coffee, appliances -- as your credit cards will allow. More if you add more credit cards up to and above your Total Net Worth.
- Houses or Condos: If “your” property, see HOUSES and CONDOS
- University: Begin $1000 per GO pass student loan payments
- Hospital: Begin $1000 per GO pass medical bill payments
- Insurance: Begin $1000 per GO pass insurance premium payments
- Auto Dealership: Begin $400 per GO pass auto loan payments
- StarBucks: Buy $4.95 coffee
- Walmart: Buy $100 item
- Home Depot: Buy $500 item
You may make Mortgage and Insurance payments only out of your Net Worth Account, you may make and Tuition payments out of your Net Worth of Credit Card Account, and you must make all other payments using your Credit Card Account.
MONOPOLY®: CHANCE AND COMMUNITY CHEST
When you land on either of these spaces, take the top card from the deck indicated, follow the instructions and return the card face down to the bottom of the deck. The "Get Out of Jail Free" card is held until used and then returned to the bottom of the deck. If the player who draws it does not wish to use it, then they may sell it, at any time, to another player at a price agreeable to both.
OLIGOPOLY: CHANCE AND PROPAGANDA
There are no COMMUNITY CHEST cards in OLIGOPOLY because there is less community and more guarantee by the State to provide credit and jobs through a government managed economy. When you land on a CHANCE space, take the top card from the deck, follow the instructions and return the card face down to the bottom of the deck. The "Get Out of Jail Free" card is held until used and then returned to the bottom of the deck. If the player who draws it does not wish to use it, then they may sell it, at any time, to another player at a price agreeable to both. If you draw a Missed Payment related CHANCE card you must deduct 100 points from your credit score and increase your credit card rate by 5%. If you draw a Market Crashed card, reduce your net worth by 50%.
CHANCE cards are:
- Advance to GO
- Make Bond Payment on Campus Sized High School $1,500
- Pay Parking Fine $500
- Pay Speeding Ticket $500
- Collect State Lottery $1,000,000
- Pay Repairs to “Your” Property $2,000
- You are Laid Off, Do Not Collect Salary at GO
- You Are Assessed for Street Repairs $1,500
- Stock Market Crash
- Housing Market Collapse
- Missed Credit Card Payment
- Missed Mortgage Payment
- Missed Student Loan Payment
- Missed Auto Loan Payment
- Missed Insurance Premium Payment
- Pay Sudden Illness 50% of Net Worth
- Pay Divorce 50% of Net Worth
- Go to Jail (Valid if Class Status is Born on Second Base or below)
- Get Out of Jail Free (Valid only if Class Status is Born on Third Base or above)
- Pay Tax of $1,500 (If Class Status is Born on Third Base or above, the $1,500 is refunded on your next roll)
- Hedge Fund Distributes, Collect $1,000,000 (Valid only if Class Status is Born on Home Plate)
- Bernie Maddoff (Valid only if Class Status is Born on Home Plate)
- Political Favor, Collect $1,000,000 (Valid only if Class Status is Born on Home Plate)
- Windfall Profit, Collect $1,000,000 (Valid only if Class Status is Born on Home Plate)
- Lucky Break (Valid only if Class Status is Born on Second Base or above)
A Lucky Break CHANCE card increments your class status by one but is only effective if you draw the card on a high roll (a dice total of 6 or above) following a low roll (a six or below) or two six rolls. Much as lucky breaks in real life it takes considerable attention to get a Lucky Break. Don’t forget to keep track of your dice rolls!
A Bernie Maddoff CHANCE card demotes your class status from Home Plate to Third Base and may or may not land you in jail.
Each and every time you roll the dice and move you must pick up a PROPAGANDA card from the deck indicated, follow the instructions and return the card face down to the bottom of the deck.
PROPAGANDA cards are:
- Winners Own a Home, Losers Rent
- Loving Parents Buy on Credit for Their Children
- Debt is Wealth
- Buy and Hold Stocks
- Home Prices Only Rise
- You Can Afford It
- Spend Don’t Save
- Trust in Rising Stock and Home Prices
- Government is Looking After for Your Interests
- Losers Drive Old Cars
- Gold is Always a Bad Investment
You will find that after the 500th time you read each of these cards the messages will start to sink in. You will find yourself buying more appliances, cups of coffee, and cars than before. And why not? All the other players are doing it, too. If you find yourself resisting, turn on the TV and leave it on in the background for reinforcement.
INCOME TAX
MONOPOLY®: If you land here you have two options: You may estimate your tax at $200 and pay the Bank, or you may pay 10% of your total worth to the Bank. Your total worth is all your cash on hand, printed prices of mortgaged and unmortgaged properties and cost price of all buildings you own. You must decide which option you will take before you add up your total worth.
OLIGOPOLY: No taxes are paid on land, only on income from productive work. Pay 10% of your income to the Bank calculated as 20% of your total net worth.
JAIL
MONOPOLY®: You land in Jail when...
(1) Your token lands on the space marked "Go to Jail",
(2) You draw a card marked "Go to Jail" or
(3) You throw doubles three times in succession.
When you are sent to Jail you cannot collect your $200 salary in that move since, regardless of where your token is on the board, you must move directly into Jail. Your turn ends when you are sent to Jail.
If you are not "sent to jail" but in the ordinary course of play lands on that space, you are "Just Visiting", you incur no penalty, and you move ahead in the usual manner on your next turn. You still are able to collect rent on your properties because you are "Just Visiting".
OLOGOPOLY: You land in Jail when...
Same as in MONOPOLY® except the rules only apply to players with a Class Status of Born on Second Base or lower.
MONOPOLY®: A player gets out of Jail by...
(1) Throwing doubles on any of your next three turns,
if you succeed in doing this you immediately move forward the number of spaces shown by your doubles throw. Even though you had thrown doubles, you do not take another turn.
(2) Using the "Get Out of Jail Free Card"
(3) Purchasing the "Get Out of Jail Free Card" from another player and playing it.
(4) Paying a fine of $50 before you roll the dice on either of your next two turns. If you do not throw doubles by your third turn, you must pay the $50 fine. You then get out of Jail and immediately move forward the number of spaces shown by your throw.
Even though you are in Jail, you may buy and sell property, buy and sell houses and hotels and collect rents.
OLOGOPOLY: A player gets out of Jail by...
Same as in MONOPOLY® except the fine is $5,000 and only players with a Class Status of Born on Second Base or lower land in jail in the first place.
FREE PARKING
MONOPOLY®: A player landing on this place does not receive any money, property or reward of any kind. This is just a "free" resting-place.
OLIGOPOLY: There are no "free" resting-places; everything costs money, and money must be borrowed from the Bank to pay expenses. FREE PARKING costs $1,000.
MONOPOLY®: HOUSES and HOTELS
When a player owns all the properties in a color-group they may buy houses from the Bank and erect them on those properties.
OLIGOPOLY: HOUSES and CONDOS
You must “own” a house or condo. The first space you land on with a house or condo on it that is not already “owned” by another player becomes “yours” and you hold the mortgage and must begin to make mortgage payments with that turn. Mortgage payments are calculated as follows:
- $100,000 per house on the property times LIBOR plus 2% for the first 10 turns around the board, then the 30 Year Conventional Mortgage Interest Rate thereafter, unless you lied to the Accountant about your income, in which case the mortgage rate is 2% under the Conventional rate.
- $300,000 per condo times LIBOR plus 2% for the first 10 turns around the board, then the 30 Year Conventional Mortgage Interest Rate thereafter.
Every time you pass “your” house or condo you must make a mortgage payment. If you miss a payment or make an insufficient payment due to miscalculation, deduce 100 points from your credit score. You also have to make a minimum credit card payment.
MONOPOLY®: BUILDING SHORTAGES
When the Bank has no houses to sell, players wishing to build must wait for some player to return or sell their houses to the Bank before building. If there are a limited number of houses and hotels available and two or more players wish to buy more than the Bank has, the houses or hotels must be sold at auction to the highest bidder.
OLIGOPOLY: BUILDING SHORTAGES
Building shortages never occur. On the contrary, buildings are always in surplus. To prevent prices from falling, through mortgage subsidies and interest rate policy the government makes sure that Bank credit grows faster than building supply.
MORTGAGES
MONOPOLY®: In order to lift the mortgage, the owner must pay the Bank the amount of mortgage plus 10% interest. When all the properties of a colour-group are no longer mortgaged, the owner may begin to buy back houses at full price.
OLIGOPOLY: In order to lift the mortgage, the “owner” must pay the Bank the amount of mortgage plus 100% interest penalty. Really, we don’t want you to pay off the mortgage. Just keep paying it, forever.
BANKRUPTCY
MONOPOLY®: You are declared bankrupt if you owe more than you can pay either to another player or to the Bank. If your debt is to another player, you must turn over to that player all that you have of value and retire from the game.
OLIGOPOLY: You are declared bankrupt if you owe more than you can pay the Bank out of your Net Worth and Credit Accounts.
MONOPOLY®: Should you owe the Bank, instead of another player, more than you can pay (because of taxes or penalties) even by selling off buildings and mortgaging property, you must turn over all assets to the Bank. In this case, the Bank immediately sells by auction all property so taken, except buildings. A bankrupt player must immediately retire from the game. The last player left in the game wins.
OLIGOPOLY: If you owe the Bank more than you can pay (because of taxes, penalties, fines, fees, etc.) even by selling off buildings and mortgaging property, you must turn over all assets to the Bank. In this case, the Bank immediately sells by auction all property so taken, including houses and condos. A bankrupt player must immediately retire from the game. The last player left in the game wins, but as you can clearly see, it is the bank and its owners that wound up with all the money.
Of course, you don't have to play OLIGOPOLY. We don't. Here we save, avoid debt, get out of the stock market before it crashes and go to cash, look to ourselves and each other and not the government to solve our problems, and never, ever read the PROPAGANDA.
iTulip Select: The Investment Thesis for the Next Cycle™
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