In a recent interview for National
Public Radio Weekend Edition
(www.npr.org, Feb. 9, 08), Bloomfield described
the basics of the Second Life economy
and the real financial losses from the
recent Second Life banking crisis. (The
currency used for economic transactions
in Second Life is called Linden Dollars.
Linden Dollars can be exchanged for real
U.S. dollars at a rate of approximately 260-to-1. Last year, Linden Lab banned online
gambling operations that had become popular
in Second Life. Early this year, Linden
Lab banned unregulated banking operations
in Second Life because several banks
were reneging on unsustainable high interest
rates on deposits.) Bloomfield attributes
his initial interest in Second Life to its
potential use as an economic simulator in
which reactions to new financial regulations
could be studied by FASB.