Question 8
Ben, the log-market accountant, is ill. Since the beavers do not trust anyone else to replace him, he tells them to use this recording system: buyer and seller publicly announce every trade; everyone records [transaction ID,buyer ID,seller ID,number of logs sold]. At day's end, a trade is valid if at least half the records are correct; otherwise it and affected later trades are invalid. For each trade the buyer pays a total fee of 10% of its value to the beavers who recorded it correctly.
Eight beavers A–H each start with 100 logs. The records and correct recorders are:
01: F buys 80 from B; correct A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H.
02: C buys 60 from G; correct A,B,C,D,G,H.
03: A buys 90 from F; correct A,F,G.
04: B buys 100 from F; correct A,B,C,D,G.
05: H buys 140 from A; correct A,B,C,D,E,G,H.
Who owns the most logs at the end?
Editorial accounting convention: fees are paid in logs, and an invalid trade transfers neither logs nor fees; a seller cannot sell logs they do not own. No equal division of the fee is needed to determine the answer.
Eight beavers A–H each start with 100 logs. The records and correct recorders are:
01: F buys 80 from B; correct A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H.
02: C buys 60 from G; correct A,B,C,D,G,H.
03: A buys 90 from F; correct A,F,G.
04: B buys 100 from F; correct A,B,C,D,G.
05: H buys 140 from A; correct A,B,C,D,E,G,H.
Who owns the most logs at the end?
Editorial accounting convention: fees are paid in logs, and an invalid trade transfers neither logs nor fees; a seller cannot sell logs they do not own. No equal division of the fee is needed to determine the answer.