Your chance to be the bailout decider

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If you’ve got some time on your hands, and you can’t get enough of the financial system meltdown, try your luck at ‘The Bailout Game,’ an online board game from Blue Earth Interactive.

The objective: Save the economy by deciding which institutions to bail out and which to allow to fail.

Your running score is a stock market index. ‘Keep the right banks going, and you will see gains,’ the instructions say. ‘Mess up, and things will only get worse.’

If only it was that simple with the real bailout.

The names on the Monopoly-style game board are taken from the headlines: Fannie Mae, Washington Mutual, AIG, etc.

You may have some fun with the game, but it’s best not to rely on it for facts. For example, Blue Earth has Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac owning or guaranteeing ‘nearly 100% of the U.S.’s total mortgage market.’ Actually, it’s 50%.

The standard disclaimer applies here: ‘Not an educational tool; for amusement purposes only.’

-- Tom Petruno