Game theory and economics in the news
December 30, 2002 | University of Washington, In mutually beneficial relationship, slowest-evolving species gains upper hand
When species coevolve, the one that adapts slower effectively commits and may be better off.
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December 24, 2002 | Reality News Online, Is the key to Survivor in 'non-cooperative games'?
Discusses how the reality TV show's many strategic challenges can be analyzed with game theory.
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December 19, 2002 | The Economist, Nomadism in Mongolia
Collective herding in Mongolia suffers the tragedy of the commons as some leaders call for privatization.
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December 17, 2002 | Cato Institute, Why the United States should not attack Iraq
Argues that Saddam Hussein is rational and deterrence may be achieved through credible commitment.
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December 13, 2002 | University of Minnesota , Nomadism in Mongolia
Blue Jays trained to play the prisoner's dilemma appear to adopt a tit-for-tat strategy, leading to cooperation.
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December 6, 2002 | Disinformation, The art of mega deals
Rupert Murdoch's success in business is partly the result of "understanding how game theory shaped deal negotiations and inter-firm competition" (by Alex Burns)
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December 1, 2002 | paulgraham.com, Will filters kill spam?
Describes a Bayesian approach to filtering spam from users' mailboxes.
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November 29, 2002 | St. Petersburg Times, Whom do drug benefit managers help?
Suggests that a Medicare prescription benefit would result in financial troubles due to adverse selection.
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November 26, 2002 | United Press International, The bear's lair: Unnatural monopolies
The Federal Reserve's stimulus policies present a moral hazard.
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November 19, 2002 | MSNBC, Capitol Hill's last-minute maneuvers
The game of adding pork to important legislation through bill riders represents a political game of chicken.
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November 18, 2002 | Toronto Star, Why paper and scissors rock
Hundreds of competitors at the World Rock Paper Scissors Society add a heuristic approach to mixed strategies.
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November 18, 2002 | Seattle Times, Data-storage field learning to cooperate
Compatibility of hardware and software is a prisoner's dilemma, resolved by the adoption of standards.
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November 17, 2002 | San Francisco Chronicle, Key Enron energy trader excelled at power game
Timothy Belden, at the center of the Enron scandal, studied game theory at Berkeley.
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November 15, 2002 | Miami Herald, Nash of 'A Beautiful Mind' fame testifies in Benlate case
John Nash acts as expert witness in support of game theory in the court room.
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November 8, 2002 | Chronicle of Higher Education, Calculus of the battlefield
Describes at length research noting that deterrence in international relations requires fending off only select attacks.
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November 5, 2002 | New York Times, Departing Chief Says I.R.S. Is Losing War on Tax Cheats
Auditing tax payers requires mixed strategies but greater enforcement costs require proportionally greater funding.
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November 4, 2002 | Poker Mag, The truth about poker players
Short commentary argues most poker players decide on a whim, not optimal mixed strategies.
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November 2, 2002 | Science News, Election Selection: Are we using the worst voting procedure?
Discusses different voting systems and how the outcomes depend greatly on the specific rules employed.
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October 31, 2002 | ESPN, Fourth-down analysis met with skepticism
Paul Romer's findins that teams should punt less often given the odds criticized by professional coaches.
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October 31, 2002 | Economist, NP or not NP?
Tetris, the addictive computer game, is not only hard, it is NP-complete.
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October 31, 2002 | Government Computer News, U.S. should fund R&D for secure Internet protocols
Since security is a public good, developing secure protocols is a tragedy of the commons. (by William Jackson)
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October 31, 2002 | The Economist, Setting the trap
Applauds U.S.-style antitrust laws that provide immunity to cartel members who come forward as a "clever use of game theory" creating a race to cooperate.
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October 25, 2002 | Harvard Crimson, Philosopher attacks self-interest
Philosopher offers resolution to prisoner's dilemma relying on the establishment of "social identities."
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October 24, 2002 | The Independent, Fishing industry falls victim to the tragedy of the commons
Global overfishing and a dwindling supply of fish the result of a tragedy of the commons.
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October 23, 2002 | Slate, Should we pay off the sniper?
Payoffs may encourage copy-cats, a moral hazard but may be worth considering if the threat is sufficiently credible
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October 22, 2002 | Daily Trojan (USC), Exorcising the ghosts of American foreign policy
Argues Kissinger's foreign policy based on zero-sum game theory.
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October 22, 2002 | Daily Hampshire Gazette, 'Game theory': excuse for anything
Local columnist blames the field of game theory for the existence of unethical behavior.
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October 20, 2002 | Gambling Magazine, Game and probability theories may suggest different strategies
Applies minimax solution concepts to zero-sum casino games.
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October 19, 2002 | BBC News, Coffee cartel shuts up shop
Association of Coffee Producing Countries fails to maintain prices and cooperation, abandons collusion.
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October 18, 2002 | Slate, Conspiracy at State College
Joe Paterno's seeming irrationality may be commitment device to instill fear in officials.
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October 11, 2002 | Business Week, Nobel laurels for an odd couple
Nobel prize awarded for pioneering work in experimental economics and behavioral game theory.
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October 10, 2002 | Washington Post, Two Americans to share Nobel Prize in economics
Nobel prize awarded for pioneering work in experimental economics and behavioral game theory.
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October 9, 2002 | Slate, TiVo, we hardly knew ye
The demise of the digital video technology demonstrates the first mover disadvantage in technology.
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October 1, 2002 | Asia Times, OPEC in the line of fire
The repeated prisoner's dilemma of OPEC cooperation is unstable.
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October 1, 2002 | Dr. Dobb's Journal, The science of complexity
Provides algorithms for modeling complexity: boundedly rational agents playing repeated congestion games
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October 1, 2002 | Physics World, Let the quantum games begin
Quantum computing holds a solution to the prisoner's dilemma and other games, physicists show. (by Chiu Fan Lee and Neil F Johnson)
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September 20, 2002 | United Press International, Experts chip away at Medicare drug plans
Prescription drug coverage proposals face adverse selection problems as healthy less likely to sign on.
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September 9, 2002 | The Guardian, Terror training
Alan Dershowitz argues that a credible commitment not to negotiate with terrorists decreases terrorist attacks.
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August 31, 2002 | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Union keeps Midwest Express guessing
Union uses mixed strategies in threatening slowdowns to gain upper hand in negotation
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August 29, 2002 | New York Times, When economics shifts from science to engineering
Economists design market mechanisms including auctions and the National Resident Matching Program.
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August 19, 2002 | SF Gate, Cal prof says teams should go for it more often on fourth down
American football coaches should punt less often, given the odds.
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August 9, 2002 | The Independent, IMF's $30bn bailout for Brazil sends lenders the wrong signal
International monetary fund bail-outs cause moral hazard, bad investments (by Philip Thornton)
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August 1, 2002 | Discover, The Mathematics of... Auctions: Going Once, Going Twice
Overbidding in auctions and quantal response equilibria.
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August 1, 2002 | New York Times, In an Ancient Game, Computing's Future
The game of Go is deceptively simple to learn but challenging for even a computer to play.
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July 31, 2002 | Wired, Game theory for real people
Argues for interdisciplinary approaches to game theory to replace rational paradigms.
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July 30, 2002 | Forbes, How to salvage stock options
How stock option bonuses can align incentives of shareholders and executives.
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July 30, 2002 | Miami Herald, Market decline reveals hazards
Stock options create a moral hazard, incentives for short-term stock price spikes.
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July 30, 2002 | Financial Times, In search of self-interest
Considers whether historical figures in politics and business satisfy the assumptions of homo economicus, and notes that the definition is quite similar to that of a sociopath. (by John Kay)
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July 29, 2002 | InfoWorld, Incentive Systems announces name change, new EIM suite
Discusses the rising business of software for managing incentive pay of sales forces.
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July 25, 2002 | Fox News, Living Together Before Marriage May Hurt Chances of Staying Together
Explores the commitment of marriage and its higher success rate than cohabitation.
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July 23, 2002 | New York Times, Why We're So Nice: We're Wired to Cooperate
Psychiatrists note that cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma is part of innate altruism.
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July 18, 2002 | Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Why cooperate? It's a pleasure, says Emory study
Psychiatrists note that cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma is part of innate altruism.
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July 1, 2002 | Risk & Insurance, Terrorism Insurance: Where's the Coverage?
Terrorists' strategic response to new defenses must be considered in formulating policy and estimating risk.
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June 27, 2002 | Economist, Bidding adieu?
Examines the role of the winner's curse in auctions for cell phones and IPOs.
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June 12, 2002 | Nature, We're doomed to dither
Describes simulations of the minority game, a congestion game in which one prefers not to be part of the crowd.
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June 1, 2002 | Natural History, Cheaters and chumps
Discusses game theory's contribution to evolutionary cooperation, noting the role of anonymity, repeated play, and kinship.
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May 11, 2002 | New Scientist, Natural born killers
Can sucide bombers be explained as hawks among doves ? An evolutionary psychology viewpoint.
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May 1, 2002 | Dollar & Sense, What can radicals learn from game theory?
An introduction to social struggle as a prisoner's dilemma in which the role of government is to devise the right game to be played. (by Alejandro Reuss)
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May 1, 2002 | Scientific American, When markets go mad
Econophysics tries to explain market movement melding adaptive systems resarch with behavioral game theory.
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May 2002 | Wired, Winner's Curse: The 3G auctions were the last party of an old regime
Argues for an unregulated radio spectrum, without auctions distributing licenses for cell phones. (by Chris Anderson)
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April 8, 2002 | Wall Street Journal, Can the risk of terrorism be calculated by insurers?
Understanding the mixed strategy game of target selection and defense helps quantify risk.
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April 8, 2002 | Roanoke Times, Ensuring discrimination
Considers the relationship between credit histories and moral hazard in the insurance industry. (by Reginald Shareef)
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April 3, 2002 | Nature, Physicists play by quantum rules
Quantum computing holds a solution to the prisoner's dilemma, physicists show.
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April 1, 2002 | Entrepeneur Magazine, The Art of (Price) War
Price wars are often not sustainable and value-pricing may be a better proposition.
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March 25, 2002 | Freebuck.com, The Fed and Moral Hazard: have the nuts taken over the asylum?
Argues that the Federal Reserve's economy-bolstering actions create a moral hazard.
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March 22, 2002 | Video Business, A Game of Chicken
Movie studios and movie rental stores are embroiled in a game of chicken according to executives.
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March 18, 2002 | InformationWeek, Playing The Nonzero-Sum Game March
Globalization has transformed relationships into non-zero sum games
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March 18, 2002 | Business Week, Game theory's hidden holes
Disequilibrium play in the traveler's dilemma and games with mixed strategies
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March 16, 2002 | ABC News, FTC Files Drug Co. Complaint
Generic drug makes paid not to produce generics in cooperation among pharmaceutical manufacturers.
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March 6, 2002 | New Scientist, Maths picks moment for soccer super subs
Soccer coaches substitute players too late in the game according to new mathematical models.
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March 2002 | Beacon Hill NewsLink, Summer's here! Let the Hollywood games begin
How movie studios signal the dates of movie releases to avoid heavy competition.
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February 25, 2002 | Christian Science Monitor, Partisan 'game of chicken' over jobless benefits, tax cuts
In an election year, which party will blink first in game of chicken over tax cuts and benefits?
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February 9, 2002 | CNet News.com, Partners today, rivals tomorrow
Notes the need to consider strategic moves by current partners, including post-contractual hold up and moral hazard.
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January 23, 2002 | ZDNet, PGP creator: Snooping must be curbed
Encryption: the web is a one-shot, not an iterated prisoner's dilemma
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January 23, 2002 | HealthScoutNews, Study Reinforces Power of the Golden Rule
The tragedy of the commons may be resolved through indirect reciprocity.
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January 11, 2002 | Poker Digest, How winning and losing alters our perceptions of risk
Applications of Thaler's research on risk tolerance and rationality to poker
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January 10, 2002 | Texas A&M University, Social Interactions May Be Traced Back To Carnivorous Behavior
Cooperative hunting and meat-sharing analyzed as a cooperative game and a negotiation.
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January 10, 2002 | Nature, Homo Reciprocans
Human altruistic tendencies result in punishing free-riders, potentially resolving the tragedy of the commons. (by Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis)
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January 5, 2002 | The Diamond Angle, The winner's curse
Baseball players are like oil wells, in that poor bidding strategy for either leads to the winner's curse. (by David Marasco)
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January 4, 2002 | New Scientist, Euro coin accused of unfair flipping
Lack of uniformity across European Euro coins leads to different odds of heads and tails in different countries. (by Debora MacKenzie)
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January 3, 2002 | Business World, Who will blink first in German telecoms poker?
German auction for new-generation mobile licenses
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January 3, 2002 | Nature, The physics of the trading floor
Physicists argue that irrationality leads to exploitable patterns in the stock market. (by Mark Buchanan)
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2002 | Bangkok Post, Four-year timeframe looks likely
Deposit insurance agency may introduce moral hazard by charging the same premiums from all institutions regardless of risk.
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