A says to B: "If you dare to run naked around the restaurant, I'll give you 50 million."

B thinks: It's so easy to make 50 million, it's worth losing face.

So he strips naked and runs around the restaurant, gasping for breath as he returns to his seat.

A laughs hysterically, but stays true to his word and writes B a check for 50 million.

A while later, both feel a bit unbalanced. Why?

Because A feels like he lost 50 million for nothing—he didn't gain anything, right?

As for B, even though he made 50 million, running around naked still bothers him.

To restore balance, he says to A: "If you dare to run naked around the restaurant too, I'll give you 50 million."

Oh boy, A just happens to feel awful—he just lost 50 million, and now he can get it back.

Hearing B say this, he agrees.

He strips and runs around the restaurant. He thinks, what's running naked? B did it too, right?

In theory, they should both feel balanced now, but the more they think about it, the more wrong it feels. Their capital hasn't increased at all—they each just lost face once.

Then an economist—their friend—arrives. After hearing their story, he's moved to tears: "You should be happy!

You've only run naked twice, but you've contributed 100 million to the nation's GDP!"