Economic Experimentation

Take a look at this post. It talks about economic theory, and the development of various economic systems. The author reviews the accelerated economic experiments through studying online video games. On the surface, this might sound silly (many people think so), but I believe that there is some merit to this argument. Over the past 7 years, I have spent time playing the online video games EverQuest and World of Warcraft. WoW, as it is known, has over 8 million subscribers. In the game, money (the virtual kind) is constantly infused into the economy, and a player-based auction system is used to exchange these cash infusions for items of value. This happens at a much faster rate than in the real economy, so the game (with its 8 million test subjects) acts as a good model for economic results. The games are constantly expanding; as such, new and better items are always entering the economy. The amount of cash in the economy is always growing as well, because new money is constantly being created or "discovered", but it then remains in the player economy instead of being removed. This is analogous to the real economy, where new products are always being created, and the amount of cash in the market is always increasing (the reason for inflation). In the game world, inflation is much greater than in the real world due to the accelerated nature of the experience - items decrease in value at a much faster rate in the virtual world than in the real world. Given this experimental test ground, it is easy to see the results of various economic theories when subjected to this accelerated environment. It is, in fact, a large-scale experiment in libertarianism. Its residents can do and be anything they wish. There are no binding forms of community, no responsibilities that aren't freely chosen and no lasting consequences of human actions. ...there is no human nature at all, just human choices. And what do people choose? Well, there is some good live music, philanthropic fundraising, even a few virtual churches and synagogues. But the main result is the breakdown of inhibition. ... highly sexualized in ways that have little to do with respect or romance. There are frequent outbreaks of terrorism, committed by online anarchists who interrupt events, assassinate speakers (who quickly reboot from the dead) and vandalize buildings. There are strip malls (and auction halls) everywhere, pushing a relentless consumerism. Oops. In playing in these online environments, I can vouch for this statement. The earlier games, such a EverQuest, attempted to control this anarchistic tendency through the use of "game masters", essentially online police that told people what they could and could not do. In the absence of a GM, it was not at all unusual to see cheating, stealing, or just mean-spirited interference on the part of a surprisingly large percentage of the players. Many people have noted the change that some people undergo when protected behind the anonymity of the Internet. Perhaps the underlying reason for that change, however, is the absence of accountability, and the knowledge that there are no consequences for one's actions. G.K. Chesterton wrote that when people are "really wild with freedom and invention" they create institutions, such as marriages and constitutions; but "when men are weary they fall into anarchy." So, which one is this?