As the partial government shutdown enters its third day, many House Republicans are determined to keep fighting, even though they see no plausible way out of the current impasse, because they’ve come so far they cannot imagine backing down now. “I think there’s a sense that for us to do a clean CR now—then what the hell was this about?” one Republican House member told me. “So I don’t think it’s going to end anytime soon.”
I find it quite possible that what superficially looks like sunk-cost fallacy is in this case actually rational (given certain goals) for deeper game-theoretic reasons. But I am not sure if all the players are conscious of this or if some operate driven by non-consciously-rational feelings that have an underlying logic in the situation they are in. See also.
Sunk cost fallacy spotted in an unusually pure state at unusually high levels:
I find it quite possible that what superficially looks like sunk-cost fallacy is in this case actually rational (given certain goals) for deeper game-theoretic reasons. But I am not sure if all the players are conscious of this or if some operate driven by non-consciously-rational feelings that have an underlying logic in the situation they are in. See also.