Final answer:
Assigning yourself to wash dishes and giving your roommates other tasks based on your comparative cleaning speeds should maximize free time. However, this could create resentment or perceived unfairness, similar to challenges in trade negotiations where parties have a comparative advantage.
Step-by-step explanation:
The scenario involves a team dynamic where one member is significantly more efficient in completing certain tasks than the others. If you are 70% faster at doing dishes and 10% faster at vacuuming compared to your roommates, it would be strategic to allocate the dishwashing duty to yourself to maximize overall free time for the household. Since washing dishes is the task where your speed advantage is greatest, taking on this task will reduce the total time spent cleaning by the greatest amount.
However, this arrangement might lead to resentment or a lack of team cohesion, especially if the roommates perceive the division of labor to be unfair or if they feel you are not contributing equally in terms of time spent working. This situation is akin to a trade-related analogy called comparative advantage, which in economics means that individuals or entities should produce goods or services where they hold a relative efficiency, trading with others to achieve a better outcome for all parties involved.