As I have mentioned here before, one of my current writing projects is a collection of short works of literature that have interesting economic insights. In a conversation yesterday at an SSC meetup, someone mentioned a Conrad story that sounded as though it would fit in very nicely. Unfortunately he didn't remember the title. I am not sure if he was misremembering something in "Typhoon," which has a scene similar but less interesting, or if there is another story I have not been able to find.The story as he remembered it involved a ship in a storm, as does "Typhoon." In his version, the money belonging to the crew was in a strong box that got so shaken that there was no way of distinguishing what belonged to whom. The solution was for the captain to instruct the crew members to each write down how much of their money was in the box. He would then add up the amounts and, if they came to more than was actually in the box, dump the box overboard. It's an ingenious solution, although I can see some practical problems, and would fit neatly into my discussion of mechanisms for making it in the interest of individuals to reveal information. The only thing I now have for that is the story of Solomon and the baby which is much weaker, since it depends on the woman who is pretending the baby is hers not guessing what Solomon is up to. In "Typhoon," the money that gets mixed up belongs to the Chinese passengers and the much less interesting solution is an even division.Does anyone here know of the story in question? Does anyone have another work of literature that illustrates another solution to the general problem? Another example of a short work of literature with an interesting economic insight?My discussion of the Solomon story and the general issue it illustratesThe current draft of the book, webbed for comments
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