Because tax day is coming up, it’s a good time to consider the distribution of wealth in the United States. Let’s do so by thinking about the familiar game of Monopoly.
Much like life itself, winning or losing Monopoly is the result of luck and skill. But there is a significant way in which Monopoly is not like real life. In Monopoly, each player starts with $1,500. In real life, individuals start with huge differences in wealth: money, property, investments and so forth. If Monopoly were more like real life, here’s what would happen.
Let’s assume there are five players, and instead of each player receiving $1,500 at the start, the $7,500 they share to begin the game is instead allocated according to the distribution of wealth among Americans. In this scenario, the wealthiest player, Player A, would begin with about $6,668, because the top fifth of Americans hold about 89 percent of the nation’s wealth. Based on the proportion of wealth held by the next fifth of Americans, Player B would begin with $705. Meanwhile, Player C, representing the middle fifth of Americans, would begin with $195, while Player D would begin with $15. Finally, Player E, representing the bottom fifth of Americans, would begin the game $90 in debt.
Who will win this game? Who will lose? No matter how skilled and even a little lucky Players D and E are, will they have a chance of winning? Won’t Player A win almost every game, even if this player is not very skilled and/or not very lucky?
[For more of this story, written by Steven Barkan, go to https://bangordailynews.com/20...e/?ref=moreInopinion]
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