Renminbi banknote / Photo credit: Polylepsis

In the middle of a very hot summer, I have hockey on my mind.  It’s on my mind, not only because the team of my boyhood dreams – The Chicago Blackhawks – finally won the Stanley Cup after an almost 50 year drought.

It’s on my mind because hockey in many ways is like the world economy.

For much of a hockey game, the two teams play at even strength.  Teams of five skate back and forth against each other trying to score goals against the other team’s goal tender.  But every once in a while, one player is removed from the ice because he commits a penalty, and he goes to the penalty box for anywhere from one minute to five minutes.

When a player is forced to leave the ice, a new dynamic is created called the power play.  A power play gives an advantage to the team that didn’t create the penalty.  And that is when the majority of goals are scored.  When a team is able to score when they are short-handed — when they are at a disadvantage because of the penalty — that can be a turning point in the game.  Read more...