It's tough to play an entire game of Monopoly to its end. Depending on the number of players, it can take several hours. And there are always distractions, arguments and eventually a general disregard for the rules.
The European debt crisis is looking like a just-about-to-be-abandoned game of Monopoly. Somebody is holding most of the cash and property, others are mortgaged to the hilt and clinging to survival and a couple are furtively eyeing the bank and how closely it's guarded.
Greece has everything in hock and has borrowed from every player and is now doing demeaning chores like getting sodas for other players to stay in for just one more turn. You get the feeling that it's going to stand up from the game at any moment, quit and turn on the TV.
On today's turn, after fighting the whole week with the Germany Boardwalk and Park Place and all-the-railroads monopoly, Greece received $10 for winning second prize in a beauty contest. The EU announced that it is refunding Greece 35 million euros it mistakenly fined the country over farm subsidies. Thanks a whole lot, Community Chest.
It's the sort of annoying twist of fate that saps the will to play the game. And sympathy for Greece is growing.
Others that aren't in as bad shape as Greece, say Portugal and Ireland, are just biding their time in austerity jail hoping things will turn around. They won't get any money coming in from their properties, but they won't risk going further into debt with each roll of the dice.
Secretly everyone is hoping that Greece lands on Free Parking and gets an IMF windfall to make the game competitive again, but there are always those (doing well) who will argue this is against the rules and the spirit of the game.
The winning players know their game is devolving and not fun anymore. But it sure beats the game of Stratego they used to play.
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