Why The Monopoly Game Is Bad For Your Wealth

Posted by Kalinda Rose Stevenson PhD

April 23, 2008

by Kalinda Rose Stevenson, PhD

Monopoly is a zero sum game based on competition, based on a limited money supply. Since the money supply cannot increase, the players can win only by taking money from other players.

This fundamental reality of Monopoly is that one player wins while the others lose. This reflects the experience of the Great Depression. Thousands stood in breadlines while a few people became very rich.

The rules of the Monopoly prohibit partnership. You cannot create joint ventures. You cannot loan money to another player. You cannot borrow money from another player.

The psychological effect of playing this highly competitive game is that you are a solo player doing whatever you can to force the other players to go bankrupt. The last thing you want to do is to help someone else stay in the game because that person might go on to drive you out of the game.

What kind of economic model does Monopoly teach? It teaches that wealth comes to the most competitive. The only way to become wealthy is to take money from others.

Monopoly simply reinforces the fundamental belief that the road to success is paved with the bodies of your competitors. It is a belief that is deeply embedded in our consciousness about what it takes to make money and what it takes to succeed in business.

What is the flaw in this game as a model for creating wealth? This game based on a limited money supply reflects the statistics that only 4% of the population will be financially free at age 65. Instead of congratulating the 4% who win the money game, we need to ask: What happened to the 96% who are not financially free at age 65?

The short answer is that our economic models teach competition for limited resources as the foundation of wealth. The model itself demands that almost everyone must end the game broke.

What is the result of following the Monopoly model to create wealth? You might be one of the few who wins. If you do, it will be a lonely struggle in a highly competitive game. It’s more likely that you will be one of the losers who could not make enough money to succeed.

This Depression era game is stuck in the mindset and beliefs of a game that doesn’t create money. The winner takes money from others, but does nothing to create more money through transactions.

Mr. Monopoly had it wrong when he thought that the only way to win was to drive competitors out of business. It’s true that business is full of “black knights” and hostile takeovers from people who still treat business as a game that allows only one winner. But the Great Depression ended more than sixty years ago. It’s time for a new game with a new understanding of money. The fact is, you’ll make more money in transactions than you will in takeovers.

It’s possible to see a new vision of money and business when you take off the Monopoly glasses and see money differently. Money is not currency. Money is an idea, and the only limits to money are the limits of your vision. In this era, the most enlightened business people understand that you will make more money in joint ventures with others than you will by competing against them.

About the Author:

Kalinda Rose Stevenson, PhD. How would you like to know what investors know about money? Find out how in a real estate investing book about the world’s most popular board game, Monopoly. www.NoMoneyLimits.com.

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