The objective of threatening a fiscal cliff was to force a “cooperative outcome” on an increasingly “non-cooperative game.” But, in the absence of a credible enforcer (and lacking sufficient mutual assurances), participants felt that they had more to gain from continuing their non-cooperative behavior.
财政悬崖威胁的目的是迫使一个越来越“非合作”的博弈出现“合作结果”。但是，由于缺少可信的强制者（以及充分的共同保证），政客会认为继续非合作行为对他们更有利。