While walking in a park, one morning, I found a Hundred Rupee note on one of the park benches. I picked it up, noted the number and took it home.

In the afternoon the plumber called on me to collect his bill. As I had no other moey at home, I settled his account with the Hundred Rupee note that I had found.

Later I came to know that the plumber paid the note to his milkman to settle his monthly account , who paid it to his tailor for the garments he had made.

The tailor in turn used the money to buy an old sewing machine, from a woman who lives in my neighbourhood. This woman incidentally, had borrowed Hundred Rupees from me sometime back to buy some household appliance. She, remembering that she owed me a Hundred Rupees, came and paid the debt.

I recognized the note as the one that I had found on the park bench, and on careful examination, I discovered that the note was counterfeit.

How much was lost in the whole transaction and by whom ?

Its obvious if you go through it person by person that the net gain/loss of everyone is 0.

The person who found the note got 100$ worth of plumbing done for him, but lost $100 in the debt that was owed to him. (This is assuming the woman considers her debt payed even though the money was counterfeit)

The pluber lost $100 in work time doing plumbing, but gained $100 in milk from the milkman.

The milkman lost $100 in milk, but gained $100 worth of tailoring work from the tailor.

The tailor lost that $100 in work time again, but gained a $100 sewing machine from the old woman.

The old woman lost the $100 dollar sewing machine, but gained $100 in that she now doesnt have to pay a $100 debt to the original guy.


So, everyone gained $100, then lost $100. Net gain/loss = 0.

There is only one glitch that i can see.

The guy who discovered the bill was counterfeit could potentially now go on to buy something else with it, since its obviously a good enough forgery for four people not to catch it. So the guy potentially gained $100 in that his debt really was payed. But im not sure whether Ravi there wants us to take this into account or not. :)


I also didnt read all of the comments prviously so maybe the solution has been posted, if so, forget it :)

Posted by charles on 2003-03-27 14:18:56