Suppose There Are Ten People Playing Cards in a Room

Multiple Choice

Suppose there are ten people playing cards in a room. One of them wants to smoke a cigar, nine of them dislike the smell of cigar smoke. The smoker values the privilege of smoking at $5, and each of the other nine people of the room would be willing to pay fifty cents for clean air in the room. The rules governing use of the room state that smoking is not allowed unless everyone agrees to allow smoking. If the cigar smoker paid each other occupant fifty cents for the right to smoke, the cigar smoker would be ________ and the other occupants would be ________.

A) better off; worse off
B) better off; just as well off as before the payment
C) better off; better off
D) worse off; just as well off as before the payment