Faustian Bargain
Etymology
From the legend of Faust, based loosely on a 16th-century German scholar, dramatized in Christopher Marlowe’s "Doctor Faustus" and Goethe’s "Faust": Faust sells his soul to the devil Mephistopheles for worldly knowledge and pleasure. The "bargain" is defined by its terrible eventual price, agreed to with open eyes. That distinguishes it from being merely cheated.
noun phrase · /FOW-stee-uhn BAR-gin/
A deal that trades long-term or moral good for immediate power, gain, or knowledge.
What it names
For the knowing exchange of something essential — integrity, the future, the soul — for a short-term prize.
Example
Accepting the funding meant surrendering editorial control — a Faustian bargain the paper came to regret.
Related idea
Opening a Pandora’s box looses trouble by accident or curiosity; a Faustian bargain is trouble accepted knowingly, with a price agreed in advance.