I think Settlers of Catan is a great boardgame that illustrates scarcity.
Monopoly.(somebody had to say it)
Monopoly had to be invented by a Marxist.
in some extent, you are right… Monopoly was based on the economic ideals of Henry George which was knwn to advocate state ownership on various things and tax on businesses and tax on land. He also believed that land should be state owned because he thought that land belonged to all humans
Catan is good, but I think any good grand strategy war/ civilization game is all good for that type of thing. They all show how to be effective with an allocation of resources. Ex: Axis and Allies
Bawerk in fact was a big critic on George…
Life.
I don’t know how well this game relates to economics but it is a great game having to do with business strategy and is guaranteed to seperate the intellectual men from the boys.
http://www.amazon.com/Avalon-Hill-4102518-Acquire/dp/0786950072
Poleconomy is fun http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poleconomy, but is specifically a New Zealand game afaik
http://utopia-game.com/shared/ → I used to play this game religiously back in the day, but it looks like it’s changed a lot (not to mention operated by a different entity). If anything, this game really shows the strength of voluntary associations. Unless things have changed, you operate your own province, but are part of a 25 person kingdom. As a kingdom, you wage war and help one another grow, and the best kingdoms out there were the ones that had the most cohesion.
Oh, and sorry, this is a (free) online game, not a board game - but it was awesome!
I think the game “Monopoly” could be go insofar that it can be used to build a love for competition and business, if used correctly. Most people seem to play it and then lament “oh, see how bad the free market is!” It’s just a board game, for chrissakes.
There were some games made by Robert Kiyosaki (sp?) that were supposed to be good at showing basic economic principles.
The best board game I ever played was Cashflow, by Kiyosaki. It’s about escaping the rat race by building alternative income.