This morning, I met up with two friends to go on a hike. It was a perfect day to spend outdoors, and we only had one issue–which hike to choose. The three options we had to choose from were Sharp Top, Devil’s Marbleyard, and Flat Top. Each of us preferred a hike different from the other, so I came up with a brilliant solution: we would all rank our preferences and then use a Borda count to determine the winner (note this is the point in the decision-making process when your non-Econ friends will call you weird). Below are our hike preferences, which I had to write on a napkin.
Much to my dismay, I realized that in our situation a Borda count would not yield a Condorcet winner since one did not exist; we had intransitive preferences and a Condorcet paradox on our hands. We had three options, and all ranked them differently due to various reasons like length, difficulty and views. However, I quickly realized that with the power of agenda setting I could manipulate the outcome of the situation. Luckily enough, my friends were honest, and I did not have to worry about preference revelation. Since I knew that my 2nd choice would beat my 3rd choice, and my 1st choice would beat my 2nd choice, I set up two pairwise votes in that order. Using my knowledge of Economics, I was able to control the outcome and end up with my 1st choice hike, Sharp Top (which really was the best option).
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