Economics Paradoxes
Dollar Auction Paradox - An auction where ALL bidders pay their bids, but only the winner gets the prize. Rational players ge...
Paradox of Thrift - If everyone saves more during a recession, aggregate demand falls, making the recession worse. Indiv...
Automation Paradox - The more reliable automation becomes, the less humans practice manual operation. When rare failures ...
Preparedness Paradox - When disaster preparation works, nothing bad happens - making the preparation look like an overreact...
Commuting Paradox - People with long commutes report lower life satisfaction, yet millions choose to commute. The extra ...
Free-Time Paradox - Americans have more free time than ever but feel more rushed. Higher income people have less leisure...
Eligible Bachelor Paradox - Why do all the good partners seem taken? Selection bias and market dynamics create a dating pool whe...
Deming Paradox - Operationally rigorous companies often aren't nice places to work. The practices that make companies...
Karl Popper Paradox - A tolerant society cannot tolerate intolerance. Unlimited tolerance leads to the disappearance of to...
Clothesline Paradox - When you dry clothes on a clothesline instead of a dryer, GDP goes DOWN. Our economic metrics punish...
Obesity-Hunger Paradox - Poor people often face both hunger AND obesity. Cheap foods are calorie-dense but nutrient-poor....
Low Birth-Weight Paradox - Low birth weight babies of smokers have BETTER survival rates than low birth weight babies of non-sm...
Full-Fat Paradox - Full-fat dairy may be healthier than low-fat. Despite more saturated fat, whole milk drinkers have l...
Elephant Brain Paradox - Elephants have 3x more neurons than humans. Why aren't they smarter? Their neurons are mostly in the...
Diamond-Water Paradox - Water is essential but cheap, diamonds are useless but expensive. Why do we value non-essentials mor...
Giffen Good Paradox - When bread prices rise, poor people buy MORE bread, violating the law of demand. Necessity trumps ec...
Easterlin Paradox - Above basic needs, more money does not increase happiness. Wealth and well-being diverge beyond a th...
Leontief Paradox - US exports were more labor-intensive than imports, contradicting comparative advantage theory....
Lucas Paradox - Capital does not flow from rich to poor countries as economic theory predicts. Money stays where mon...
Mandeville's Paradox - Private vices like greed and vanity can produce public benefits like economic growth. Vice fuels pro...
Chainstore Paradox - Game theory predicts irrational behavior in chainstore entry game...
Antitrust Paradox - Antitrust enforcement can raise prices it's meant to lower...
Arrow Information Paradox - To sell information, you must reveal it, but then why pay?...
Liberal Paradox - Minimal individual liberty conflicts with Pareto efficiency....
Bertrand Paradox (Economics) - In duopoly competition, Nash equilibrium leads to zero profits....
Edgeworth Paradox - Capacity constraints prevent price equilibrium in oligopoly....
Grossman-Stiglitz Paradox - If markets are perfectly efficient, no one has incentive to gather information....
Icarus Paradox - The very success factors of companies lead to their downfall....
Scitovsky Paradox - Social welfare criteria can simultaneously recommend and oppose a change....
Paradox of Plenty - Resource-rich countries often have worse economic growth (resource curse)....
Banknote Paradox - Cash usage declining but demand for banknotes increasing....
Deaton Paradox - Consumption smoother than income, contradicting lifecycle models....
Gibson's Paradox - Interest rates positively correlated with prices, not inflation....
European Paradox - Europe leads in science but lags in innovation commercialization....