This kind of reasoning also makes it hard in pyramid-scheme calculations. When people say they lost X Billions from Madoff or whoever it's hard to know how muc

This kind of reasoning also makes it hard in pyramid-scheme calculations. When people say they lost X Billions from Madoff or whoever it's hard to know how much of that was on-paper losses. If I put in $10, got told I had $100 in earnings, then got $0 back, did I lose $10 (+ opportunity costs) or $100?