The Recession isn't a game (except when it is)

Last week, South Park taught us that the treasury department's method for deciding what to do with failing banks and insurance companies is more or less a big game of roulette (with kazoo!), and 'LAYOFF: The Game' allowed us to toy with other people's lives. Well, today it's playtime again, as you hop into your bailout dump truck and move around the game board in a heroic attempt to save the economy. It's 'The Bailout Game!' Here's how it works, from their official rulebook:

The US economy is failing. Your job is to save it by choosing which major financial institutions to bail out from the financial crisis and which to let fail. As you make your way down Wall Street, you will encounter various banks and financial institutions asking for your help. You must decide if these businesses are worth saving. If you choose to save a bank, you must make sure they get enough money. But remember, you cannot save them all! If you get stuck you can always "Ask a Greenspan." Mr. Greenspan, in all his various incarnations, will give you guidance.

I got run down and robbed by an angry recession, hopefully you'll fare a little better.


--Posted by Steven Schiff, Vault News & Commentary