The Nobel prize in economics rewards advances in auction theory
For the third time since 2007, it goes to designers of market mechanisms
IN 1991 ALVIN ROTH, who in 2012 would share the Nobel prize for economics, was asked how the discipline might change over the century to come. “In the long term”, he wrote, “the real test of our success will be not merely how well we understand the general principles which govern economic interactions, but how well we can bring this knowledge to bear on practical questions of microeconomic engineering.” Sweden’s Royal Academy of Science seems to agree. On October 12th it gave this year’s Nobel prize to Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson, both of Stanford University, for their work on auction theory and design. Their work epitomises economics as engineering.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Winning bids”
Finance & economics October 17th 2020
- The Nobel prize in economics rewards advances in auction theory
- Can China’s reported growth be trusted?
- Wall Street says it is braced for losses. Now what?
- Why securing debt forgiveness for poor countries is so hard
- Low interest rates leave savers with few good options
- The IMF predicts that the world economy will suffer from “long covid”
- The tale of Iran’s stockmarket bubble is familiar—but also strange
From the October 17th 2020 edition
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Germany’s economy goes from bad to worse
Things may look brighter next year, but the relief will be short-lived
An economics Nobel for work on why nations succeed and fail
Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson tackled the most important question of all
Why investors should still avoid Chinese stocks
The debate about “uninvestibility” obscures something important
China’s property crisis claims more victims: companies
Unsold homes are contributing to a balance-sheet recession
Europe’s green trade restrictions are infuriating poor countries
Only the poorest can expect help to cushion the blow
How America learned to love tariffs
Protectionism hasn’t been this respectable for decades