The Two Envelopes Problem
One envelope holds twice as much money as the other. The arithmetic says swap — then says swap back, forever.
1953 (Littlewood, crediting Schrödinger), 1989 (envelope form)19 min read
American game theory and management
Barry Nalebuff
1958
Professor at the Yale School of Management, co-author of "Thinking Strategically" and "Co-opetition", and later co-founder of the drinks company Honest Tea. From 1987 to 1990 he wrote the Puzzles column in the Journal of Economic Perspectives; his 1989 instalment recast an old exchange paradox in terms of two envelopes and gave the problem the form it now has.