Principles of Microeconomics / Unit 9 MIC 0824 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Prisoner's Dilemma
Captions available
The idea
Two suspects, questioned apart, each do better by confessing whatever the other does, so both confess and serve longer than if both had stayed silent. Self-interest beats cooperation though cooperation pays more.
In practice
Silent together, two years each; both confess, five each; one confesses, one against eight.
Where people slip
The dilemma is the gap between the cell they reach and the one both would prefer.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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