[Question] Is there a term / better way of phrasing the general case where an intervention helps certain individuals do better at zero-sum games but doesn’t provide any external value?
Eg—Some people think that education / the cosmetics industry benefit some individuals but hurt other individuals at the same time because job markets / dating markets involve zero-sum games, so education / the cosmetic industry don’t provide any benefit to society overall. In other words, they change who succeeds but don’t cause more success.
I’d also like to find a term / nicer way of phrasing how individuals involved are incentivised to invest more resources to these things as others do the same, leading to a vicious cycle and increasing amounts of resources being dedicated to something that does not benefit society.
[Question] Is there a term / better way of phrasing the general case where an intervention helps certain individuals do better at zero-sum games but doesn’t provide any external value?
Eg—Some people think that education / the cosmetics industry benefit some individuals but hurt other individuals at the same time because job markets / dating markets involve zero-sum games, so education / the cosmetic industry don’t provide any benefit to society overall. In other words, they change who succeeds but don’t cause more success.
I’d also like to find a term / nicer way of phrasing how individuals involved are incentivised to invest more resources to these things as others do the same, leading to a vicious cycle and increasing amounts of resources being dedicated to something that does not benefit society.