Too Big To Fail

“Mr. Chairman, let us not bandy words. We have a new kind of bank. It is called too big to fail.”

— Rep. Stewart B. McKinney, House Banking Committee, 1984

It’s October 2007, and the market has never looked better. You and up to four friends just got hired at a trading firm. Start at the worst desks in the building, make money, spend it, and see how far up the ladder you can get.

You’re all in this together, whether you like it or not. Everyone trades from the same account, so the big wins are shared and so is the blame. Walk over to a friend’s desk, lean over their shoulder to see what they’re buying, or just yell across the floor when the market turns. With proximity voice chat, the whole office hears it when someone loses the rent money.

Everyone dreams of a supercar. You’ll start with the family minivan. Then there’s the white Countach parked across two spaces downstairs: it isn’t yours, but the keys are in it. Pop the headlights, put a friend in the passenger seat and drift it around the block, just try not to run anyone over. More vehicles are on the way, and plenty more to do with them.

Sometimes you need a break, and the office has plenty going on. Play a CD in the media player, switch your desktop theme, or install the software you ordered last night. There’s even a full tycoon game on your work PC, just keep a spreadsheet open in case someone walks past. Away from the desk, draw on post-its and stick them on your friends’ screens, throw cards at them like shurikens, punch the vending machine until it gives up your snack, or nap in the dog bed. And when coffee stops working, there’s always something stronger ;)

The clock never stops. The market opens and closes on schedule, the news keeps coming, and whatever you left behind is still there the next morning: your positions, your debts, the notes on your monitor. When the day’s done, everyone has to sleep somewhere. The couch is free. So is the dog bed.