March 29, 2002

Self-Interest Doesn't Always Trump Fairness; Coffee Prevents Tooth Decay; You Are How You Decorate

Would you pay to reduce a competitor's earnings? British economists have found that the answer for most people is: Yes. When people played a game against one another for cash, the researchers found that most participants would willingly give up some of their earnings to reduce other players' takes.

While playing a computerized betting game, each player could see on the screen how much each of the other three anonymous players was winning. During the game, some players arbitrarily