(credit: Jason Rowe)

Pernicious zero-sum thinking

The assumption that buyers are losers and sellers are winners is a hardy perennial, and risks making us all into losers

Here is a puzzle (it’s based on an old one, as you can tell by the amounts). Joe buys a horse for $60, and sells it to Jack for $70. He then buys it back for $80 and finally sells it again to Jack for $90. Is Joe…