Santa goes back to basics in attempt to reduce the cost of Christmas
A big hat tip to Sam Lavery on the EconomicsTeacher Twitter Group for spotting a useful topical piece in the Telegraph. The Toy Industry Association’s annual list of the top Christmas sellers (based on what they know toy shops to have ordered from suppliers) shows the average price of the toys in the basket has almost halved for Chirstmas 2009. Electronic gizmos are out (along with their high selling prices); traditional favourites are back in. However, there is still plenty of evidence of innovation - particularly amongst long-standing brands like Monopoly and Lego.
This is potentially a great new resource for Economics & Business
Breaking news from Google & Hasbro - this week they are launching a free online and global version of Monopoly. 9 September is the date. Built around Google Maps, this looks like it could be a terrific twist on the classic game of buying and selling. More details at the launch site here
Monopoly City Streets will use Google Maps as a board so players can choose from millions of streets around the world to buy. The online version will be the same as the traditional board game but players will be able to build football stadiums and skyscrapers as well as the usual houses and hotels.
