zero-sum games
One gains, one loses
Zero-sum games are situations where one party's gain equals another's loss—the total never changes, just its distribution.
The term comes from game theory, where players compete for a fixed pool: poker, chess, dividing an inheritance.
In broader use, zero-sum thinking assumes all competition works this way: They treat immigration as a zero-sum game, as if every job taken is one lost.
Economists often argue that trade and innovation are not zero-sum—both sides can gain.
- payoffCulminating benefit received
- prisoners dilemmaStrategic betrayal scenario
- stalemateMutual obstruction preventing progress
- strategiesPlanned approaches to goals
- tug-of-warCompetitive rope-pulling contest
conflict · saddle point · pie · winner-take-all · all or nothing · competition · equilibrium · trade-off · economics · minimax · arms race · cold war · race to the bottom · tit-for-tat · poker face · battle of wits · negotiations · loser
- game theoryprisoners dilemma, minimax, payoff, equilibrium, cooperative games
- economicssupply and demand, inflation, GDP, GNP, gross domestic product
- social conflictclass conflict, class struggle, class warfare, class war, power struggles
zero-sum gamessynergy
Combined effect exceeding components
value creation · wealth creation · virtuous cycles · mutually assured destruction
zero-sum gamescooperative games
Games with shared victory
collaboration · partnership · mutualism · teamwork · symbiosis
game, zero, summary, summing, zeros, zeroes, summed, summation, zeroed