US game theory specialists win Nobel prize in economics
US game theory specialists win Nobel prize in economics
US game theory specialists win Nobel prize in economics
By Phillip Inman
October 12, 2020
Summary
The Nobel prize for economics was awarded on Monday to two US game theory specialists, 26 years after John Nash - the Princeton academic depicted by Russell Crowe in the 2001 film A Beautiful Mind - won for his groundbreaking work on the same subject.
Americans Paul R Milgrom and Robert B Wilson won for the designs of mathematical models that promote "Improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats", said Göran K Hansson, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Milgrom, 72, the Shirley and Leonard Ely professor of humanities and sciences at Stanford University, is one of the leading lights in auction theory, along with his Stanford colleague and thesis adviser Wilson, 83, the Adams distinguished professor of management.
The award, which comes with a 10m krona cash prize and a gold medal, caps a week of Nobel prizes and is technically known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
Auction theory, which is a branch of game theory, was developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s after a group of researchers set about building mathematical models that could introduce incentives and information into the auction bidding process to maintain a fair market and prevent collusion among the bidders.
The Academy said the auction theory developed by Milgrom and Wilson had helped design new formats that are now used to sell such diverse goods and services as fishing quotas, airport landing slots and electricity allowances.
"He said:"The Nobel prize in economics once again goes to a couple of old white men who published esoteric mathematical squiggles years ago that have little or no bearing on the lives of ordinary people.
"Work on the auction price of fish in the Indian Ocean doesn't seem that important in the midst of a pandemic with people struggling to pay the bills. Economics has lost its way."
Speaking to reporters in Stockholm by phone after learning of his win, Wilson struggled to think of an auction in which he himself had participated.
Then added: "My wife points out to me that we bought ski boots on eBay. I guess that was an auction."
Reference
Marczewski, A. (2020, October 09). What Would Mario Do - A Simple Decision Tool! Retrieved October 12, 2020, from https://www.gamified.uk/2020/10/09/what-would-mario-do/