Power of the purse | Congress must reclaim its authority over spending to rein in deficits and restore order – By Michael Kofoed (Deseret News) / Dec 2, 2023
A classic economic thought experiment imagines two bank robbers. For argument’s sake, let’s call them Bonnie and Clyde. The local police catch them a few days later and place them into separate interrogation rooms. The police have a problem: The evidence is circumstantial and at best they could possibly get a conviction on a lesser gun charge. So, they devise a plan.
Officers go to each defendant separately and offer them the same deal. If Bonnie will rat out Clyde, they will release her with a slap on the wrist (one year in prison), but if she chooses not to confess then she will take the fall if Clyde pleads guilty (resulting in a longer prison sentence). If both don’t confess, they face only the gun charge (two years). However, if both defendants confess, they will both receive eight years in prison.
The goal of each prisoner as a team should be to minimize the total amount of prison time that both collectively serve. It would be in the best interest of their partnership to have them both refuse to confess and take the gun charge. Working together would produce the best social outcome.
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