Prisoners' dilemma

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to speculate about the reasons why our economic “game” may be broken. Design/methodology/approach – Essay. Findings – Businesses in the United States seem to be employing a shared mental model that makes sense at the level of the firm but which at the level of the economy, and the average American, does not seem to be working. Originality/value – Speculation about why rational decision‐making at the firm level that in the past has caused general welfare to increase no longer seems to be doing that.