For Monopoly Fans

[anothermom2]

<p>In yesterday’s NYT, Week in Review, page 2 there is an article written by Damon Darlin about his most treasured memory of a monopoly game at the University of Chicago. These players were fans of that great economist, Milton Friedman, and Darlin writes of a marathon game that included changed rules.</p>

<p>As a young girl, I loved board games, and Monopoly was a favorite on my block among my playmates. We had many “local rules” which were not in the official rules, and I have to say that as I got a bit older and ventured outside the block to play with others, I found that nearly everyone had local rules. If someone wanted to play by the “official rules” he or she was viewed as very unimaginative and controlling or as we might have said in the 60’s or 70’s “uptight”. Among “our” rules were money on free parking, and payment of fines and the like into this fund, so that free parking could turn out to be a windfall. I can’t remember many of the others, but I bet you all had a few too.</p>

<p>Here is the article </p>

<p>

  When Hasbro showed a new version of Monopoly last week at the Toy Fair, people were aghast that an infrared tower in the center of the board would squawk instructions, track players’ money and make sure that everyone abided by the rules.</p>

<p>A generation of children may never learn to make change. They may never learn to argue about rules and change them. And they may never, as I and a group of Monopoly fanatics in college did in a great all-night game, learn important economic lessons. “There might not be the attention span for that anymore,” said Mike Zelenty, one of the players.</p>

<p>Monopoly was taken seriously in Shorey House at the University of Chicago in the late 1970s. A room was set aside as “The Monopoly Room.” But in that post-Vietnam, pre-Reagan era, all assumptions were questioned and a game our parents played was no exception. Rules were meant to be altered. The house even convened a “constitution convention” to change the official rules of the game to allow a person to build a hotel on a property without first having to own four houses. Mr. Zelenty, now a corporate lawyer in his native New Jersey, remembers holding a sign that said, “New Jersey Espouses / Hotels Without Houses.”

<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/20/weekinreview/20monopoly.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=monopoly&st=cse[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/20/weekinreview/20monopoly.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=monopoly&st=cse&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[mathmom]

<p>^I haven’t gotten around to finishing the NYT from the weekend, but what a fascinating article. Our games used to involve a lot of backroom deals of the type, if you let me buy this property I won’t charge you rent if you land on it. Not sure what we learned from that!</p>

[ucsd_ucla_dad]

<p>I think Monopoly is a great learning tool for kids. In my house we went from ‘Go Fish’, where they learned the numbers pretty quickly, to Blackjack, where they really learn to add numbers very quickly as well as start thinking about probabilities, and then Monopoly, where they needed to add/subtract larger numbers. Both of my kids ended up to be math whizzes - maybe my process with the games helped.</p>

[mathmom]

<p>^My older son insisted on being banker when he was four. He did end up learning how to add and subtract big numbers!</p>