Why Mr. Monopoly Is Wrong About Making Money

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.

During the Great Depression, a few people made vast fortunes while thousands of other people stood in breadlines. In the zero sum game of Monopoly, for one to player to win, the others must lose.

In the game of Monopoly, partnership is prohibited. Players cannot create joint ventures. Players cannot loan money to other players. Players cannot borrow money from other players.

As a result, Monopoly teaches you that you are on your own. Your goal is to force other players to go bankrupt. As a player, you learn that helping someone else might cause you to lose the game.

As an economic model for creating wealth, Monopoly teaches that competition is the way of the world. It reinforces social models based on competition, and the idea that success is a lonely climb over the heads of 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 many have to lose in order for a few to create wealth. The economic model of competition for limited resources demands that almost everyone must end the game broke for a few to become rich.

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.

Monopoly reflects the mindset and money beliefs of the Great Depression. In the Monopoly game, the winner acquires more money by taking it away from the other players, but the winner 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.