The Individual and The Group

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Prisoner's Dilemma

This video is a straightforward explanation of the prisoner's dilemma.

Dilbert knows what the Prisoner's Dilemma is, but does not understand its implications in this short cartoon clip. What does he not understand?

The movie The Dark Knight has an example of a prisoner's-dilemma-like situation. (Embedding is disabled, so you will have to click on the link.) Is the movie a bit optimistic about people in this scene? Explain.

The logic of the prisoner's dilemma is illustrated in the British game show, Golden Balls. The payoffs are not quite right for the prisoner's dilemma. Can you explain why?

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Self-Interest

In this Monty Python skit, an orphan is trying to explain charity to the merchant banker who knows nothing other than self interest.



Do economists assume that people are like the merchant banker? If not, what assumption do economists make?

If you had to make the choice presented in this movie trailer, would you push the button? Why or why not? What do you think other people would do? (Embedding is disable, so you have to click the link.)

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Tit-for-Tat

The show Big Brother has another example of the prisoner's dilemma. In this case the people cooperate. Why is cooperation more likely in this situation than in the Golden Balls case? (Embedding is disable, so you have to click the link.)

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Central Planning

This sample from a longer PBS documentary examines the collapse of the Soviet Union. What, according to the video, caused the collapse? What, if anything, could the leaders of the Soviet Union done to prevent the collapse?