, Columnist
Game Theory Scowls at Trump-North Korea Talks
The U.S. and South Korea need the most from a negotiation. Guess who that favors.
Beware of the zugzwang.
Photographer: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump’s possible meeting with Kim Jong Un to discuss North Korean nuclear weapons is considered a fairly unpredictable event. It’s worth a look at how an economist might use game theory to think about such a summit, if only to explain why there is more room for things to go wrong than to get better.