Pitt Business Professor Available to Discuss Relevance of Monopoly, World's Most Popular Board Game, on Its 75th Anniversary, Feb. 6

PITTSBURGH-Feb. 6 marks the 75th anniversary of Monopoly, the best-selling board game in the world. Cait Poynor, assistant professor of business administration in the University of Pittsburgh's Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, is available to discuss the game's relevance in today's business world.

Poynor says the game's combination of strategy and chance keeps it relevant in today's society. "As we've seen throughout the last few years, both are important. The dot com bubble showed what happens when irrational exuberance drivesreminded us that sound strategy is in fact important, model-free business, and the stock market has certainly shown us the influence thatof "chance"-in the form of external events, company changes, or even government or tax changeses-can play in our financial well-being."

But the game's business model relies heavily on property ownership as a key to wealth, says Poynor. "Of course, in Monopoly, people don't take mortgages-they pay cash. While this seems like a clear way to wealth, we've seen that the levels of indebtedness consumers incur en route to property ownership can introduce substantial risk. That model is probably under some fire, at present, given the collapse in the real-estate market and the realization that not all consumers can, or should, manage repayments on property loans," she says. "The As a result, the central position of property ownership in achieving the American Dream, while unlikely to fade, is something we may come to questionqualify." "

Poynor also says that some aspects of the game are oversimplified, for instance, assuming that all property values are fair and easy to determine. "Of course, games oversimplify generalize things, but Monopoly is one that really oversimplifies.this is one thatWeis really in question. know that's not really the case anymore. In fact, a game that reflects today's business market would need to have dynamic corrections changes both in the stock marketvalue of money and in real-estate values; we know that the real value of property can change without moving up or down the street."

A new version of the game should might also reflect the value of diversification. "The board game values, as the name says, 'monopoly.' Individuals want to own everything in one area to increase their probability of collecting rents. Today, people who sought geographic real-estate monopolies to the exclusion of other investments have had some problems," she says. "I think we've learned that diversification in all areas is extremely important."

The role government plays in the business world also has changed, says Poynor. Monopoly portrays the role of government as an unlucky card. "Because government becomes more involved in industry To reflect government's bail-outs of struggling industries (or, in Monopoly, players), (bail-outs, health care, etc.), a newer game might include a bail-out card for individuals whose real-estate values crash or are suddenlywho suddenly find themselvesound to be bankrupt."

Finally, Poynor suggests that an updated Monopoly would do well to integrate the interdependence of players. "In the original game, if a player goes out, his or her properties are back up on the block, and they represent an opportunity for everyone still in the game. To some extent, this still happens in the business world-buying stocks cheap can happen when a business struggles. But we've also seen that if a major part of the economy goes under, there are negative repercussions for everyone involved. That's not the way Monopoly goes as a game. Developing a game that would train children players to realize that they can be hurt by someone else's bad decisions cwwould be a pretty remarkable innovation."

For a list of Pitt faculty experts, visit www.umc.pitt.edu/m/experts.html.

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