Debt free?

M

Mino

Northern Dreamer
I have a bunch of friends I’ve known forever but they won’t ever get together with me at one time because they’re all pissed at each other for non paid debts between them. Frank owes Jesse a hundred dollars, Jesse owes Tim a hundred, Tim owes Davey a hundred and the same for another seven other guys down the chain. So….None of them owe me money so I call a meeting of all ten on the pretense of a completely foolproof way to get very wealthy in a short period of time. To my surprise all ten of these guys attend. I explain my trickery or the motive for it and have them all begrudgingly sit in a circle with the person they owe a hundred bucks to sitting on their right. Frank ends up on my right, next to him Jesse, then Tim, all the way round the circle to Eldon on my left. I tell Frank I’m lending him a hundred dollars to pay off Jesse who must pay off Tim and so on around the table until it gets to Eldon who is the last in the circle before me who pays off Frank. Frank then pays me back the original loan and all of them are debt free to one another and all are friends again.

Help! What’s wrong with this theory? I know the obvious stuff like everyone would have to owe exactly $100.00 but the main argument where everyone gets their debt solved and I get my investment back…..I dreamed this up a few years ago and still don’t know what it means, then I’m no mathematician.
 
i say dont lend money to friends you cant afford to just give them.. each person would have to owe someone the same amount they are owed..
 
If they only owe one other person and you start with the guy that owes the most money first, have him on your right, and you can afford to give him a christmas gift of whatever he owes then it will work.

So you give hime $125, he give the next guy $105, that guy gives the next guy $85 and so on.

Or, you could just write who owes what on a dry erase board, see who cancels each others debts out, and if the reamaining sum is like $100 or $75 dollars, maybe you could just get them to agree its payed, or all kick in $5 to pay off whatever balance is left.

Nice intentions on your part though :)
 
But did Eldon actually owe Frank $100? If not, why does he pay him?

Remember, Frank is not at any deficit at the start.

-Stu
 
this only makes sense if the last person in the chain owed the first person (the one you lent $100 to) the money. In that case it's a perfect chain and the 100 bucks just have to shift one step to the right to fix everything.

I've heard of simmilar instances with 3 or 4 people but like someone else said it only really works if everyone lent the same ammount from each other which is very unlikely.

I'm guessing you're develloping this for a story, right? in that case you should try to make it a bit more interesting by having a double link where someone lent from two people or lent 200 from one person who in turn owes 100 to two different people. that'll be more impressive.

if you wanna do the math without doing the math just lay it out on a table with post-it's representing people and start shuffling money around. write down on the post-it's what happens and then you have a complete and understandable rundown.

mor10
 
wait...the problem is..you'd lose your hundred. Wouldnt the person on the end of the line, prior to you be owed $100? in which that case he wouldn't want to Lend his hundred to you, it would just restart the circle.....

I think...
 
LOL...I'm reading the feedback and am more confused than ever, especially as to why I chose two members of Jesse James' gang as players. I walk in owing nobody nothing. I am owed when I lend money to the first guy...Frank I think. The payoffs go all around the table to the last man (Eldon I think) who owes Frank a hundred. When Eldon pays Frank, everyone at the table is paid off which only leaves Frank to pay me back my investment and we're all square.
 
OK, well if Eldon did owe Frank then you're not even necessary—they were all square when they entered the room, each person both owing and owed $100.

-Stu
 
But perhaps as the only one outside of the debt circle he's the only one that could point that out without seeming to have an agenda.

Also since they won't meet and he's the only one of the group that's talking to all the other members he's the only one that can trick them into being in the same place.
 
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