The Money Game
1. This is the bare sketch of the glimpse of an idea. It occurred when my grand-niece and my grand-daughter were playing at my house. They had decided that they were going to play at 'lumberyard sales'. They took some flat wood stock recycled from wire reels (about 6"x4'), made one into a scale to mark lengths, wrote lengths and prices on the wood. Then they wanted some play money, so I brought down the old Monopoly game from upstairs- plenty of play money there. They were all set, and took turns pretending to be a customer. It was great fun for them.
So I got to thinking. There is a lot of talk about the instability of our currency. Some communities have started printing and using their own currency. The idea is circulating.
I am not about to get out the printing press yet, but I envisioned a day (or more) of play, kind of like a Renaissance Faire crossed with a mega-potluck gathering. 'Sim-commerce'. Everyone comes with their goods (or their raw materials). Everyone gets an equal 'stash' of play money at the beginning of the experiment. For this to work, each person's 'stash' would have to be marked, and ideally there would be a way to follow the currency from hand to hand. I don't know how to do that part..
Commerce then proceeds- you could have rules, or a free-for-all, or specific parts of the experiment where cut-throat practices are knowingly employed (someone gets to play at Ponzi scheme building)- you could even mock up a stock exchange with shares traded. And you watch where the money goes.
See, that is always the problem. Where does the money go? How have we been robbed of the value of our heritage? Everyone has a theory. I am wondering how much information a short experiment would give us. At the end of the day (or the experiment), all the play money is collected. In theory, everyone goes home fed and happy.
How many people, how much capital, and how long would you have to run this to get useable and interesting data?
2. OK, so in trying to get an answer to that question I ended up here;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_economics (see additional comments below);
Then, as I was looking for a game like Sim City concentrating on currency or commerce, I ended up here;
The Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds (your Federal Dollars hard at work. Is this for real?)
http://www.ndu.edu/iCollege/fcvw/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Resources_Management_College
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Defense_University
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKh8-QyL1Bs
So I got to thinking. There is a lot of talk about the instability of our currency. Some communities have started printing and using their own currency. The idea is circulating.
I am not about to get out the printing press yet, but I envisioned a day (or more) of play, kind of like a Renaissance Faire crossed with a mega-potluck gathering. 'Sim-commerce'. Everyone comes with their goods (or their raw materials). Everyone gets an equal 'stash' of play money at the beginning of the experiment. For this to work, each person's 'stash' would have to be marked, and ideally there would be a way to follow the currency from hand to hand. I don't know how to do that part..
Commerce then proceeds- you could have rules, or a free-for-all, or specific parts of the experiment where cut-throat practices are knowingly employed (someone gets to play at Ponzi scheme building)- you could even mock up a stock exchange with shares traded. And you watch where the money goes.
See, that is always the problem. Where does the money go? How have we been robbed of the value of our heritage? Everyone has a theory. I am wondering how much information a short experiment would give us. At the end of the day (or the experiment), all the play money is collected. In theory, everyone goes home fed and happy.
How many people, how much capital, and how long would you have to run this to get useable and interesting data?
2. OK, so in trying to get an answer to that question I ended up here;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_economics (see additional comments below);
Then, as I was looking for a game like Sim City concentrating on currency or commerce, I ended up here;
The Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds (your Federal Dollars hard at work. Is this for real?)
http://www.ndu.edu/iCollege/fcvw/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Resources_Management_College
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Defense_University
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKh8-QyL1Bs
Most of what I came across assumed that people would need or want to learn the same old cut-throat capitalistic market model- how to get along on Wall Street. How to get the best of your neighbor. Competition, first, last, and always.
The Wikipedia article on Experimental Economics (above) did have the following section regarding what might pass for communal concern;
'... Social preferences The term "social preferences" refers to the concern (or lack thereof) that people have for each other's well-being, and it encompasses altruism, spitefulness, tastes for equality, and tastes for reciprocity. Experiments on social preferences generally study economic games including the dictator game, the ultimatum game, the trust game, the public goods game, and modifications to these canonical settings. As one example of results, ultimatum game experiments have shown that people are generally willing to sacrifice monetary rewards when offered low allocations, thus behaving inconsistently with simple models of self-interest. Economic experiments have measured how this deviation varies across cultures.'
Otherwise, it seems that all the models were of selfishness. No one seemed to feel there would or could be a community of people who genuinely wanted to work together for mutual benefit and protection. I wonder; is that why we are being so severely challenged at the present time? So we will understand and respond to the need to roll forward into a society truly caring for one another?
3. Homo economicus vs??
The sequence above led me to a closer examination of the models purporting to describe human behavior when it comes to financial and other transactions involving gain and loss. The model predominating for hundreds of years is sometimes referred to as Homo economicus. (no, this has nothing to do with sexual preference, it means 'economic man')
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_economicus
'...Homo economicus, or economic human, is the concept in many economic theories of humans as rational and narrowly self-interested actors who have the ability to make judgments toward their subjectively defined ends. This theory stands in contrast to the concept of homo reciprocans, which states that human beings are primarily motivated by the desire to be cooperative and to improve their environment.'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_reciprocans
'...Homo reciprocans, or reciprocal human, is the concept in some economic theories of humans as cooperative actors who are motivated by improving their environment. This concept stands in contrast to the idea of homo economicus, which states the opposite theory that human beings are exclusively motivated by self-interest.' Here are 2 pdf files discussing the concepts.
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Another writer's take on the situation (and the hoped for evolution past 'Homo economicus') is to be found on 'The Pelican Web', 'Mother Pelican; A Journal of Sustainable human Development'. This article is entitled 'Homo Economicus, Homo Ecologicus', by Paul Chefurka
http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisustv07n03page9.html
Whatever you call him (or her), it is clear that a change is necessary. Change in attitude, change in behavior. What they refer to as a 'paradigm shift'. We have to hope that enough people 'get it' and do what is needed, to pull us out of the mess we are in. It won't be the 'Gordon Geckos' of the world; and there is no doubt at all that plenty of that type continue to manipulate the future of the world, as they buy and sell 'futures' on Wall Street.
Stepping back to the issue of 'Mother Pelican' (Vol. 7, No. 3, March 2011);
http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisustv07n03page1.html
'...This issue is about the need for human adaptation in order to survive the unavoidable transition from consumerism to sustainability. An important dimension of this transition will be the substitution of fossil fuels by clean energy sources, and 2000-2050 scenarios for this process are provided in a recent report by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The editorial attempts to elucidate the feasibility of achieving 100% clean energy by 2050 in light of the human propensity to resist change.'
And then in turn stepping back to the home page;
http://www.pelicanweb.org/
'...The mission of this web site is to collect, organize, and disseminate information on sustainable development, with especial focus on human development; and to publish monthly updates via the Mother Pelican journal on solidarity and sustainability issues.'
http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisustv07n03page9.html
Whatever you call him (or her), it is clear that a change is necessary. Change in attitude, change in behavior. What they refer to as a 'paradigm shift'. We have to hope that enough people 'get it' and do what is needed, to pull us out of the mess we are in. It won't be the 'Gordon Geckos' of the world; and there is no doubt at all that plenty of that type continue to manipulate the future of the world, as they buy and sell 'futures' on Wall Street.
Stepping back to the issue of 'Mother Pelican' (Vol. 7, No. 3, March 2011);
http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisustv07n03page1.html
'...This issue is about the need for human adaptation in order to survive the unavoidable transition from consumerism to sustainability. An important dimension of this transition will be the substitution of fossil fuels by clean energy sources, and 2000-2050 scenarios for this process are provided in a recent report by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The editorial attempts to elucidate the feasibility of achieving 100% clean energy by 2050 in light of the human propensity to resist change.'
And then in turn stepping back to the home page;
http://www.pelicanweb.org/
'...The mission of this web site is to collect, organize, and disseminate information on sustainable development, with especial focus on human development; and to publish monthly updates via the Mother Pelican journal on solidarity and sustainability issues.'