The boardgame constant

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Applying Keynesian ideas to my personal life in order to ensure a steady game intake

Posted by Björn Hansson

23 Jun 2011

Björn Hansson

(taragalinas)

Sweden
Jakobsberg

So I'm in the middle of a divorce.

I have no home right now, been living with friends for about a month. I have no savings whatsoever, but in order to take care of my kids I had to buy an apartment. Now the bank owns not only my ass, but most of my soul as well.

I can only work part time since I have an eight month daughter to take care of. I have older children as well.

Oh, and I'll lose my job at the end of august.

But hey! At least the weather is nice.

So now I'm stuck here with an apartment that I can't afford and with unemployment looming at the horizon. Enter: Keynes.

I think it was John Maynard Keynes who invented the idea of public spending as a countermeasure to a financial recession. (An idea that I personally subsribe to by the way).

Of course Keynes was talking about the public sector and macro economics, but I thought I'd apply it to my own life:

My economy looks bleak - better buy some boardgames!

I think ol' John would have liked that.

Since I wasn't sure if Keynesian economics worked as well with euros as with abstracts I made sure to buy games from a lot of different genres. This whole circus started back in April and since then I've managed to lay my hands on the following titles:

Hornet Leader: Carrier Air Operations
Rise of Empires
At the Gates of Loyang
Retsami
Space Hulk: Death Angel - The Card Game
The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game - The Hunt for Gollum

and Pandemic (as a gift for the people who are housing me)

Well, has it affected my economy. I don't know. I don't feel that it has gotten any worse. Is there some cosmic force that fills the financial gaps in my wallet?

Or it could just be the fact that I have yet to pay my first mortgage on the new apartment.

All I know is: I have a lot of new games and I'm having a lot of fun with them.

Well that's the end of my first blog post. In the next one I think I'll discuss dungeoncrawlers. Hope to see ya'll then!

12 Comments

Thu Jun 23, 2011 12:36 pm

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John Bandettini

(JohnBandettini)

United Kingdom
London

No, no, no, no, no, yes

A new season and all is well in the world

This highlights the way to end global recession, everyone go out and buy lots of boardgames. Sounds like a plan to me.

Posted Thu Jun 23, 2011 12:40 pm
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Aron F.

(uigrad)

United States
Champaign
Illinois

Although it's hard to prove that Keynesian economics are fundamentally flawed, it's actually easy to prove current implementations are.

Keynes' philosophy to government spending required up and down phases. When private sector spending decreases, then he suggested government spending should increase. But, he cautioned that once the economy does improve, then government spending should decrease! The whole concept of a cycle requires both and up and a down.

I don't know about your country, but in mine, legislatures have never been able decrease government spending when times are good. No one wants to throw away all those votes they bought! The result is an ever-increasing government spending (and thus ever-increasing debt and fraud).

< \political_rant>

So, how does this apply to board game purchases? From personal experience, it applies rather... uh... yeah, very well. I bought a number of games when I was searching for a job, and now that I am employed again, my rate has just increased faster. The downside is clear -- I don't have time to play the games I buy!

I hope you enjoy your games. I hope, even more that you stay employed. Cheers!

Edited Thu Jun 23, 2011 5:06 pm
Posted Thu Jun 23, 2011 5:05 pm
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Dave P

(tivowatcher)

United States
McKinney
Texas

Uh - right. Just spend your way right out of debt! Sheesh - sounds like a certain political party I know of... whistle

In any event - hope thing turn out Ok for you.

-Tivo

Posted Thu Jun 23, 2011 10:31 pm
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Troy Davis

(decumanusmaximus)

Canada
Edmonton
Alberta

Have you tried tithing?

Posted Fri Jun 24, 2011 5:40 am
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Björn Hansson

(taragalinas)

Sweden
Jakobsberg

decumanusmaximus wrote:

Have you tried tithing

giving one tenth of my earnings to my FLGS? Sounds like a plan...

Posted Fri Jun 24, 2011 9:36 am
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Dan Fielding

(Gronak)

Get professional help before you hurt your children.

You are not in a recession, you are in bankruptcy.

Edited Sun Jun 26, 2011 8:19 am
Posted Sun Jun 26, 2011 8:18 am
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Daniel Cepeda

(iidhaegn)

United States
Tempe
Arizona

I very much like the ideas posted here. It is usually how my mind works when I'm low on cash. I think about a year ago I was wondering how I was going to make it through the summer... Still found money to buy board games!! (My personal philosophy is that there's always enough money to buy board games... or something like that.)

~Daniel

Posted Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:50 am
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Anna Ziolkowska

(mrs_z)

Norway

Like for person who claim that don't like card games You bought lots of cards. Does divorce change taste for games?

Posted Thu Jun 30, 2011 10:23 pm
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Björn Hansson

(taragalinas)

Sweden
Jakobsberg

mrs_z wrote:

Like for person who claim that don't like card games You bought lots of cards. Does divorce change taste for games?

I like cooperative games. Yes, they have a lot of cards (though Space Hulk isn't really card DRIVEN, IMO).

Still don't like card games in general though. Too much hidden information between players

Posted Thu Jun 30, 2011 11:13 pm
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Travis P

(travis7)

United States
Unspecified
Unspecified

Keynesian ideas are a modern form of slavery. It is a form of theft. It is a system that rewards the feckless, reckless and greedy and steals from the productive and prudent.

Keynes was a crook. He made his money with insider-dealing. When he lost his money, he was the first to ridicule his own Keynesian theory. The man was a hypocrite.

I am completely opposed to this economic theory.

Posted Fri Jul 8, 2011 1:31 pm
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Tristan Hall

(ninjadorg)

England
Manchester

Google 'NinjaDorg Fantasy Quest'

travis7 wrote:

Say what you really think dude.

Posted Fri Jul 8, 2011 1:43 pm
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Sam Lawton

(Mmzomba)

United Kingdom

My philosophy when broke has always been 'If I buy a boardgame then I will be less inclined to go out drinking/to the cinema/shopping as I have something 'free' at home to do.

Resulted in more time playing games and less money spent. I just consider it an investment.

Posted Fri Jul 8, 2011 3:11 pm
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The boardgame constant

Applying Keynesian ideas to my personal life in order to ensure a steady game intake

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