very little, or nothing at all, and start making more money than everyone else. If everyone but you puts in $2, the pot would be $18. It gets doubled to $36 and everyone gets back $3.60—including you, the one who put nothing in at all. In experiments where this game is played so everyone can see who puts in a fair share, the pot tends to grow for a while and then it starts to shrink as people test the water by withholding funds. The behavior spreads, because no one wants to be a chump, and eventually the economy grinds to a halt. If people are allowed the option of punishing cheaters, the
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