Trump, Putin, and the Game of Doing Nothing: This Week in Dumb Diplomacy
18 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, defence economics, war and peace Tags: game theory, Russia, Ukraine
The best tariff threat is one you do not have to use
06 May 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, international economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, free trade, game theory, tariffs
Following up on an earlier post, Reciprocal tariffs as a tit-for-tat strategy in a repeated prisoners’ dilemma From NY Times:Trump imposed, quickly withdrew and then threatened to bring back huge tariffs on dozens of countries. Immediately, they began calling and asking what they could do to stop him. “More than 100 countries have already come to…
The best tariff threat is one you do not have to use
Arguments against ceasefires
27 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: game theory, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
Calls for a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas may stem from humanitarian concerns, but history and strategic reasoning suggest that the fastest and most enduring path to peace is through decisive victory. Drawing parallels with World War II, it becomes clear why a ceasefire at this juncture could prolong suffering rather […]
Arguments against ceasefires
Why tit-for-tat tariffs may not work against Trump
16 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, industrial organisation, international economics, International law, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: 2024 presidential election, game theory, tariffs
Last week, my ECONS101 class covered game theory. At the end of the final lecture, after we had been covering repeated games and tit-for-tat strategies, a really perceptive student asked me about Trump’s tariffs. A lot of the rhetoric about tariffs has been posed in terms of tit-for-tat (see here and here, for example). The…
Why tit-for-tat tariffs may not work against Trump
Hawks, doves, Israel and Iran
13 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, defence economics, economics of information, economics of media and culture, Public Choice, war and peace Tags: game theory, Iran, Israel, Middle-East politics, war against terror
In The Conversation last October, Andrew Thomas (Deakin University) discussed the recent (at that time) military flare-up between Iran and Israel, likening it to a ‘game of chicken’:Israel’s strike on military targets in Iran over the weekend is becoming a more routine occurrence in the decades-long rivalry between the two states…There is a reason why…
Hawks, doves, Israel and Iran
Some Links
06 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, economic history, history of economic thought, international economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, free trade, game theory, tariffs
TweetNational Review‘s Charles Cooke explains that Trump’s trade war is needless. Two slices: How do I hate President Trump’s capricious levying of tariffs? Let me count the ways. They are constitutionally suspect, statutorily usurpative, diplomatically toxic, and culturally chaotic; they represent a profound political risk for the new administration — the potential upsides of which…
Some Links
Book review: Hidden games
28 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, behavioural economics, economics of information Tags: game theory
Game theory has a lot of real-world applications. I am never short of good examples to use when teaching game theory in my ECONS101 class. However, I can always use more examples. And so, I was really interested to read Hidden Games, by Moshe Hoffman and Erez Yoeli. The subtitle promises: “The surprising power of…
Book review: Hidden games
What the Crimean Bridge Attack (but not destruction) Means for the Russia-Ukraine War
09 Oct 2022 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: game theory, Ukraine
The Hardliner’s Dilemma: The Hidden Threat to Putin’s Regime
09 Oct 2022 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: game theory, Russia
Ten Reasons Why Ukraine Hasn’t Destroyed the Crimean bridge
18 Sep 2022 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: game theory, Ukraine
Why Are Scam Emails Obviously Scams? A Game Theory 101 Investigation
12 Aug 2022 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of crime, economics of information, law and economics Tags: adverse selection, asymmetric information, game theory, screening, self-selection
The Problem with Faster Highways (Downs-Thompson Paradox) | Game Theory Puzzles
15 Sep 2021 Leave a comment
in transport economics, urban economics Tags: game theory, public transport
Why did @ShoebridgeMLC @GreensJamieP share meme on #globalwarming as a international public good but vaccine development is as national and private good?
18 Aug 2020 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, health economics, international economics, International law, law and economics, politics - Australia, property rights, Public Choice, public economics Tags: climate alarmists, economics of pandemics, free-riders, game theory, international public goods, vaccines
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