Do Not Pass Go; Do Not Collect $200

Rolling dice in a game like Monopoly has few consequences. The worst thing that can happen is landing on a hotel-loaded property owned by an opposing player. The dreaded Boardwalk and Park Place, that is, unless you own them.

Toward the end of the game, if you manage to not give up in frustration, players trade off taking chances, landing on each other's properties until eventually one person emerges victorious.

With the current economic downturn, it makes me wonder if the CEOs and heads of companies can distinguish real life from the board game businesses they are running.

Banks need bailouts yet owners are receiving golden parachute plans and some corporations are laying off more than half of their employees to stay afloat while the CEOs buy new yachts.

In a game like Monopoly, the bank has all the money and players try to obtain amassed wealth by bleeding other players dry - unlike the U.S. economy where the banks don't have any money to give out anymore, leaving the general public rolling on a board full of "chance" spaces.

Forget about a bank error in your favor. Instead of collecting $200, the Federal Reserve reaches into your pocket and pulls out your share of the $700 million bailout, leaving players hoping to roll into jail or pass go. Only one of them exists in reality.

Just like in the game, the guys who own the top-tier properties are making suckers out of the thimble and race car but are not prepared to cover their losses if they land on someone else's fully-developed dominion.

Even though there are laws that prevent companies from having full control of the market, it doesn't keep them from trying to create the dreaded "M" word. It wouldn't surprise me if at board meetings of large companies, the business strategy sessions included hypothetical business acquisitions arranged on a Monopoly board.

These are the same people who play with company-owned aircraft like their own personal shuttle service, having them ready at all times to take them to "emergency budget meetings" in Aruba. It would make sense that they are good at moving player pieces in a circle around a square board.

So what do CEOs do with all their extra money? Some of them are somewhat humane and give some of their extra wealth to charities. But, do they give enough? After all, there are no tax havens in Monopoly.

Sure they don't need to give everything they make to the less fortunate, but some thrill seeking by the wealthy is being taken to new heights. And by thrill seeking, I don't mean rolling consecutive doubles.

According to an article by the Associated Press, Richard Garriott, game designer and son of U.S. astronaut Owen Garriott, paid $30 million to the Russian Space Agency to be a passenger on the sixth tourist trip to the International Space Station. The designer made his fortune from the computer game, "Ultima Online," another game that you can play for hours and not accomplish anything.

This type of absurd spending could have gone to a greater cause. In the article, Garriott said he spent the money to fulfill a childhood dream. In my opinion, he could have spent the money to help fulfill millions of children's basic desires: a winter coat, a new pair of shoes or possibly some board games.

With the current economic situation, multi-gazillionaires need to help the less fortunate more than ever. Helping the underprivileged would be giving them a much needed get-out-of-turmoil-free card.