There is nothing that Prisoner 1 could say to Prisoner 2 to convice her to cooperate. Suppose Prisoner 1 promised to Deny? Prisoner 2 faces a choice of 6 months in jail if she chooses to Deny, but if she Confesses she goes free. Thus, she will still Confesses. If she thinks Prisoner 1 might be lying she risks 10 years imprisonment if she cooperates with him and chooses to Deny, but if she Confesses she would only serve 3 years, so again she will Confess.

   The fact is, if we have the correct payoffs there is no good argument for supposing that this game can come out any other way than both prisoners Confessing and each spending 3 years in prison. This is where the dilemma comes from. Each player chooses the individually rational strategy and as a result both are worse off than if they could find a way to cooperate. How is this like an economic situation?

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