Prisoners' dilemma

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to speculate about the reasons why our economic “game” may be broken.

Design/methodology/approach

Essay.

Findings

Businesses in the United States seem to be employing a shared mental model that makes sense at the level of the firm but which at the level of the economy, and the average American, does not seem to be working.

Originality/value

Speculation about why rational decision‐making at the firm level that in the past has caused general welfare to increase no longer seems to be doing that.

Citation

Marren, P. (2011), "Prisoners' dilemma", Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 32 No. 3, pp. 50-52. https://doi.org/10.1108/02756661111122009