Transnational Capital Auction: a game of survival

Radical Teacher, Winter, 2001 by Bill Bigelow

Students are familiar with transnational corporations -- Disney, Nike, Sony, Pepsi, Toyota. Corporations are entities with recognizable slogans and logos; they have public faces. Articles in the popular media describe the fortunes of this or that transnational corporation, the behavior of this or that CEO. But transnational "capital" has no face. It has no jingles, no slogans, no logos. Capital is real, but invisible.

I wrote this simulation game, The Transnational Capital Auction, because I wanted students to grasp some aspects of capital as a force in today's world -- to help them see capital as a kind of living being that has certain needs and inclinations. The game is a metaphor for the auction that capital holds to determine who in the world will make the most attractive bid for its "services." Students engage this dynamic from the standpoint of Third World elites, and simulate a phenomenon that has been called the "race to the bottom," whereby these elites compete against one another to attract capital. The game's "punch line" is an examination of the social and ecological consequences of the auction.

Note: If any of what follows starts to feel complicated, don't worry. The game has been used by lots of teachers, with excellent success. It's more simple than it may appear -- and it works. (1)

MATERIALS NEEDED:

1. Several desirable candy bars -- at least six.

2. Copies of the student handout, "Transnational Capital Auction: Instructions" -- one for each student in the class.

3. Copies of the "Transnational Capital Auction Credit Sheet" -- a minimum of seven, enough so that each country group can have at least one.

4. A minimum of 35 copies of the "Bids to Capital" slips so that each group has one per round (seven groups, five auction rounds.)

SUGGESTED PROCEDURE:

1. Before the activity, create the auction scoring guide on the board or on an overhead transparency. It should look something like the chart below.

2. If you have at least 21 students in your class, divide them into seven groups. Ask the groups to form around the classroom, as far away from one another as possible.

3. Distribute copies of "Transnational Capital Auction: Instructions," "Transnational Capital Auction Credit Sheet," and the "Bids to Capital" slips. Read aloud with students "Transnational Capital Auction: Instructions." It should be obvious, but emphasize the distinction between Friendly to Capital credits and game points.

Answer any questions students might have. Review the "Transnational Capital Auction Credit Sheet." Point out that a group earns more credits the friendlier it is to capital. Show them the candy bars and announce that the three groups with the most game points will win all the candy bars.

4. Begin the first round: Tell students to make their bids in each of the categories and to total up their Friendly to Capital credits on the "Bids to Capital" slips. Note that this is really the hardest round because students don't have any way of knowing what the other groups are bidding.

I play "Capital" in the game, and wander the classroom as the small groups decide on their bids, urging them to lower the minimum wage, taxes on corporate profits and the like. "Come on, show that you really want me!"

5. After each group has submitted its bid, write these up on the board or overhead. Award the first game points based on the results -- again. 100 game points for the third highest number of Friendly to Capital credits, 50 for the second highest and 25 for the first. (This is explained in the Instructions handout.) After this first round has been played, and the points are posted, I scoff at the losers and urge them to get with the program and start making some bids that will attract Capital.

From this point on, for better or worse, the competition to "win," or for candy bars, takes over, and students continue to "race to the battom" of conditions for their respective countries. Sometimes they even realize what they're doing as they decide on their bids. "This is like 'The Price is Right,' oppression style," I overheard one of my students say one year.

6. After each round of bids, continue to post the Friendly to Capital credit scores and award game points for that round. Keep a running total of each country teams game points. As Capital, I continue to urge students lower and lower: "Team five, you think I'm going to come to your country if your tax rate is 30%. Come on, next round let's get that way down."

7. For the fifth and final round, ask each student to write down their group's last hid, separate from the "Bid to Capital" slips -- not just the number of credits, but the actual minimum wage, the child labor laws, etc. For their homework writing assignment, each student needs to know the specific social and environmental conditions created by the auction, in their pretend country.

Award candy bars to the winners." Distribute the homework assignment, "Transnational Capital Auction Follow-up."

8. The next day, we discuss the homework questions. Some additional questions to raise: