Applying game theory to relationships, MBA, parenting – 4 videos by Barry Nalebuff
Barry Nalebuff is co-author of three of favorite game theory books Thinking Strategically, The Art of Strategy and Co-opetition. So I was thrilled to see there are four small talks from him, courtesy of BigThink In no particular order, here are the videos: Enjoy! VIDEO 1: applying game theory to human interaction

Wild card poker paradox
Wild card poker is a variation of poker that implements the use of at least one "wild card." A wild card is a designated card that a player can assign any value and suit. A wild card livens the action by making stronger hands easier to complete. This post is about ...

Seating strategy: how many ways can a group sit around a table?
A table seat choice can be the difference between a boring, wasted night and a fun, profitable one. I can recall two examples where seat choice made a big difference. The first was a student-faculty dinner at Stanford where I had invited a math professor. The etiquette was to accompany a ...

How much does your city spend on food? Plus a contest from Bundle
There's a wonderful infographic at Bundle that shows how big cities in America spend money on food: A couple of Bay Area cities like San Jose and San Francisco are near the top of the list, but it is Austin, TX that wins by spending a whopping $12,447 per year on ...

Can you tell the difference between real and ‘fake’ stock prices? New study says that most people can
There's a neat online video game that tests whether you can identify real stock data from randomized, generated data. The game is called ARORA, an abbreviation for "a random or real array" of prices. (found via Technology Review) The purpose of the game Many economists argue that markets are efficient, meaning prices reflect ...

Why target-based bonuses encourage cheating, and how to motivate instead
Performance bonuses are often said to be a necessary evil. They are necessary to motivate and reward outstanding performance. But they can be evil as they can encourage cheating. Warren Buffett once wrote: "Managers that always promise to 'make the numbers' will at some point be tempted to make up the ...

Why tobacco companies might like the advertising ban
Several years ago, the U.S. government came down hard on tobacco companies and limited advertising on TV and in magazines. The move was meant both to discourage smoking and to punish the tobacco companies. Is that what really happens? It's worth analyzing since advertising bans are often discussed. There used to ...

Getting adult dental sealants to prevent cavities and save money
I'm in my 20s and keep good dental hygiene. But a couple of years ago, for the first time in my life, my dentist found cavities. He said it was probably because food was getting stuck in my molars. He said my teeth had rough grooves and sticky food like raisins ...

A great innovation to sports: bad play = free ticket
I hate paying for a game only to see my team lose. It's a reason I rarely shell out $30 for games since I know there's like a 50/50 chance of my team mailing it in (especially true in baseball when key players are resting). I have long wanted to pay ...

Game theory – comic from xkcd
I just wanted to share a small comic today. A while ago Scott emailed me the web comic xkcd's amusing take on the topic of game theory: I got a kick out of this as it is often joked love cannot be analyzed computationally. That's not to say all is lost. Mathematics does ...

The Price is Right Lucky Seven game – a good example of dominated strategies
The game show The Price is Right has so many fun games to analyze. One of my favorites is called "Lucky Seven" or "Lucky $even." This is a guessing game and the prize is a brand new car. Here is how the game works. You start out with seven one-dollar bills. You ...

Bill Clinton talks game theory
I recently finished the book Nonzero by Robert Wright. The book was very informative and suggests cultural evolution has an arrow towards larger positive sum interactions. It turns out the book is a favorite of former President Bill Clinton. The book's website led me to a talk by Clinton where he ...

Why decision by committee often fails
Facing a tough choice, my boss set up a committee to decide. The committee spent days arguing and eventually came up with a horrendous recommendation. Sound familiar to you? image credit: dandechiaro I've wondered why committees often fail and make terrible decisions. Recently I came across a mathematical illustration that helps explain ...

A funny auction commercial
I came across a commercial featuring a rather unusual auction. I enjoyed this more than I'd like to admit... Before you watch it, a fair warning. This video is NOT for the faint of heart. If you don't like edgy comedy, just skip this post and don't watch the video. Here it ...

Game theory videos by Tim Harford
I recently finished Tim Harford's book The Logic of Life which is an entertaining economics read. (My favorite part is the discussion about Giffen goods). I was pleased to discover a couple of videos used to promote the book that discussed game theory. The videos are cute and brief explanations of ...