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MONOPOLY; USA; CYPRUS; BANKS...



The game of Monopoly can go on for ever, so long as you are allowed to borrow money.

You land on 'Mayfair' where your opponent has hotels.

You haven't got enough cash, so you borrow from 'the bank', which has limitless money.

Each time you pass 'Go' you pay 5% on your borrowing.

If your opponent lands on your hotels on 'Oxford Street', you then have enough money to pay back the money borrowed from the bank.



Of course, if your opponent has far more properties and hotels than you, you will end up with growing debts.

But, the bank always allows you to borrow more money.

So the game goes on for ever.

The game only ends if:

(1) the rules are changed so that there is a limit to borrowing

(2) and, one player has far more properties, hotels and cash than the other and the dice are generally in his favour.


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The USA currently has some economic problems.

Its debt is rising. 

Its population is ageing. 

Its schools are mediocre. 

Its infrastructure is rickety. 

Its politicians are corrupt.

It is spending too much money on wars.

There is a giant gap in wealth between the elite and the average citizen...


A well nourished man steals maize from a starving child during a food distribution at a feeding center in Sudan in 1998. Photo by Tom Stoddart.

But, so long as the US government can go on printing money, the game can go on for ever.

Of course, if the USA fails to get its house in order, the dollar will go down in value and ordinary people become much poorer.



Cyprus is not going to cease to exist just because its economy is in a mess.

Cyprus has oil and gas.

And the USA wants Cyprus inside NATO.



We should all look at Switzerland, which is made up of a number of counties (cantons).

The central government in Switzerland controls the railways.

The cantons control education, labour, economic and welfare policies and so on.

Each canton has its own parliament and constitution.

The communes vary in size from a few hundred to more than a million people.