(idea) by elaine Fri Jul 26 2002 at 19:53:37
Observation in economics and financial analysis or decision modelling that as stakes become larger, most agents in an economy become more risk averse.

Thus an individual with a (monetary) net worth of $50,000 might always be willing to bet a penny on a 10% chance of winning a dollar (effectively risk neutral), but not to bet 100,000 on a 10% chance of winning $1.1 million.

In simple terms this is to say that even if the bet is one that is probabilistically] favorable, if the stakes dictate that a loss is catastrophic then the bet will still not be taken.

The related idea of Gambler's Ruin suggests that in any risk based decision the party with greater resources has an inherent advantage.

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