By Paul Tassi, Forbes.com
Rarely does the world of politics cross over into my little video game corner here, much less something as significant as the presidential race, but I woke up today with a note in my inbox that claimed candidate Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan might have had gaming inspiration.
As it turns out, in Maxis’s SimCity 4, the default tax rates actually all start at 9% for commercial taxes, 9% for industrial and 9% for residential. It’s not exactly corporate, income and sales, but it’s close enough to be noticeable.
The Huffington Post made the connection, and contacted Maxis for comment. Senior producer Kip Katsarelis seemed bemused.
“We encourage politicians to continue to look to innovative games like SimCity for inspiration for social and economic change,” said Katsarelis. “While we at Maxis and Electronic Arts do not endorse any political candidates or their platforms, it’s interesting to see GOP candidate Herman Cain propose a simplified tax system like one we designed for the video game SimCity 4.”
Cain cites his own economic advisors for coming up with the plan, not the video game, but one has to wonder, if it’s right for SimCity, is it right for America? My thriving virtual metropolis would at least seem to think so.
To read more, visit: http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2011/10/14/herman-cains-9-9-9-plan-straight-out-of-simcity/