Understanding Economics: Game Theory

by Jay R. Corrigan

Game theory is the study of strategic decision-making in politics, sports, diplomacy, and a host of other areas, but especially in economics, where game theory flourishes. Understanding Economics: Game Theory introduces you to this fascinating field, which combines the fun and challenge of games with the logic of brain teasers. In 12 engaging half-hour lessons, Professor Jay R. Corrigan of Kenyon College analyzes such classic games as the prisoner’s dilemma and the hawk-dove game. While these particular games involve lawbreakers and animal rivalries, they have applications to many situations.

Each lesson is devoted to a handful of examples, which you investigate in detail, working out the possible strategies for the different competitors and their expected payoffs. Along the way, you discover why it’s hard to buy a good used car, why people confess to crimes they didn’t commit, why athletes ignore the risks and use performance-enhancing drugs, and how to bid in different kinds of auctions to increase your payoff—and also why you might regret winning one special type of auction.

Professor Corrigan covers fundamental concepts, such as dominant strategy and Nash equilibrium, the latter named for the reclusive genius who was profiled in the movie A Beautiful Mind. He teaches you how to diagram a game with a payoff matrix, which is a table that shows every player’s payoff based on the chosen strategies. You also practice backward induction, where you start at the game’s last round and work your way back to the beginning to determine your best opening move. These are all powerful tools for seeing the game from opposing points of view and uncovering an optimum strategy. After taking this course, you’ll know what to do the next time you bargain for a used car or get caught in the frenzy of an auction.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 The Great Courses (P)2021 The Teaching Company, LLC

Pasted from Audible

Genres: Economics, Audiobook, Nonfiction, Science, Business, Mathematics

Audiobook

First published March 18, 2022

Reviews

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Game Theory is something I hear about a lot, but don’t really understand. This set of Great Courses lectures was a great introduction to the topic. The first lectures take you through different game scenarios and teach you about human behavior when humans understand the consequences of their choices. The easiest was the classic “prisoners’ dilemma” in which the police catch two alleged criminals, take them into separate rooms, and interrogate them. If neither talks, they both go free. But if one talks and the other doesn’t, the talker gets a light prison sentence and the one who stayed quiet goes away for a long time. Corrigan shows why it is always in the prisoner’s interest to make the deal and “confess” (even if he or she is innocent).

These sorts of thought problems are fascinating and as they get more and more complex, Corrigan begins to apply them to the real world showing how to use game theory to make decisions. It gets very complicated very fast. If there is one weakness in what he described, it would seem to be that all sides have to know what is best for them or their actions will not be correctly anticipated, but the theory probably provides for that as well.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere at Amazon an economist determined that there's an Nash equilibrium where they give me this title for free and I don't cancel my monthly Audible membership. It was nice that this audiobook came with a pdf of the whole text, not just the diagrams and equations. I think to really get everything from this, I'd need to spend some time with that pdf.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't like economics that being said, I do sometimes enjoy Game Theory. This is a good introduction to it. My biggest complaint is that this was obviously a video ripped to audio so you miss the graphics that are sometimes needed to understand the subject being discussed.

[Mark Henderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

too much math and not enough psychology. I am not sure most people (including myself) are capable of doing game theory calculations in our heads. there were some allusions to evolution, but I would have liked to have seen more discussion of how game theory enters the everyday lives of those who are not doing calculus for life decisions.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 3 out of 5]

I took probability and statistics in college. I can follow along and I think this audio course is an excellent presentation of how probability and statistics works in practical terms. On the other hand I'm not in college any more and the lectures became repetitive, applying an idea like "The Prisoner's Dilemma" in several different contexts. That was required for a proper understanding of the idea, but I already understood the idea in general and didn't need to get down into the weeds.

If I were taking a college course in probability and statistics today, I would be thankful to this professor for making the ideas so clear. But I'm not taking such a course, so I only gave the course 3 stars. Maybe I should have given it 4 stars.

I might revisit this review in the future.

Contents

Lect 01 Game Theory Basics-The Prisoner's Dilemma (28:08)
Lect 02 Repeated Prisoner's Dilemma Games (28:03)
Lect 03 The Game of Chicken (26:31)
Lect 04 Reaching Consensus-Coordination Games (27:24)
Lect 05 Run or Pass-Games with Mixed Strategies (27:07)
Lect 06 Let's Take Turns-Sequential-Move Games (29:35)
Lect 07 When Backward Induction Works-and Doesn't (31:49)
Lect 08 Asymmetrical Information in Poker and Life (27:47)
Lect 09 Divide and Conquer-Separating Equilibrium (27:11)
Lect 10 Going Once, Going Twice-Auctions as Games (25:51)
Lect 11 Hidden Auctions-Common Value and All-Pay (28:39)
Lect 12 Games with Continuous Strategies (29:37)

[AHCuteArt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why did you listen to this lecture?
I am a giant nerd and game theory is fascinating to me.

What format did you listen in on?
Listened on Audible.

Is this an educational or for entertainment?
It was educational.

What genres do you think this lecture series belongs to?
Business, Philosophy, Psychology, Science.

What was your favorite part?
My favorite lecture was the “the bidding game”. It was fascinating to realize that money isn’t the only thing that can influence decisions. The idea of fairness is a factor but can be overcome by the value of the stakes. It was fascinating.

Who would you suggest this to?
Anyone who is a life-long learner, like math, psychology, or game theory.

What is your general opinion/ rating?
I really like this series of lectures. I did a cursory listen and will have to go back to understand the finer points of what was discussed. He covers well know game dilemmas and how they are worked out. I was familiar with some of the subject matter and was pleased to find him take each thought experiment a step further. However, the material can be dry and math heavy which is sometimes hard to listen to. It was a short lecture series compared to other lectures by the great courses. I enjoyed it.

[Dennis Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Understanding Economics: Game Theory by Jay Corrigan is a great, small course. It is entirely dedicated to its principal subject: understanding and describing game theory. The later half of which is something you don't find too much in political science, but do find in some other social sciences - like Econ. I do think that Corrigan could have situated this subject a little better in economics and as one piece of a much broader hole. Regardless, Corrigan is a very good teacher. I think his last lecture will require a visual aid for some listeners, however. Overall: it is useful, especially as an introduction for the curious.

[Macka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty much 15 examples of game theory, how it applies to real life and where the Nash point falls.

After finding out in the first few chapters that game theory is a pretty simple concept, but can be very complex depending on the circumstances, the reader then gets it beaten into their head with a sledge hammer.

I can see how I could apply it to life (poker, auctions etc.), but whether or not I would use it in practice is another story, since the idea is that the Nash equilibrium is where people end up anyway.

If I was an economist though.. damn theres some value here.

I consider myself better off having read it.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This audiobook comes with a PDF, which you need to refer to in order to understand the probability. This book covers different scenarios of game theory. The most famous is the prisoner's dilemma, but there are so many more situations where people are deciding what to do based on what someone else is going to do (e.g., how much to bid in an auction and how much to offer for a used car).

[Emma Pontzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is pretty much the poison scene in princess bride until Wesley whips out his immunity. Game theory is fast caring because you are attempting to win the impossible. Trench warfare explains why wars are caused by people in power suffering by people on the ground as well as why they last so long.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This did a really good job of explaining game theory in easy to relate examples. I did have to go through the content a few times to really grasp the takeaway of each of the examples, but the fact that I had no familiarity with game theory and was still able to navigate it all without an instructor is a testament to the quality of the material.

[Bill Webber · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good primer, and inspiration to delve further, on a very interesting topic...

Prisoner's Dilemna
Monty Hall Problem
Chicken
Poker
Survivor
Assorted other Dilemnas

...all touched on in the brief overview...good first exposure to the topic!

[Heather Hoyt]

This didn't really work as audio only. Game theory needs visuals.

Notes:
Big pig, little pig
Rock paper scissors
Hawk and dove
Chicken
Coordination games
Stag and hare
Nim

Strategic instead of rational

Dominant strategy.
Nash equilibrian
Pure and mixed
Focal point
Pareto outcome
Mixing strategies
Backwards induction

[Niniane · Rating 5 out of 5]

In prisoner's dilemma, a one-off game leads to competing, but repeated games lead to peace.

I learned why second-place auction (like Adwords) exposes the true demand price.

The professor is good at explaining, and has infectious enthusiasm.

[Aktar · Rating 4 out of 5]

The lectures were interesting and well-presented. I listened to this compilation. Some of these concepts and formulas went over my head. For maximum consumption, I’d recommend listening while following along the text.

[Afifah Mim · Rating 3 out of 5]

ব্যক্তিগত নোট:-
প্রফেসর মেবি ভালোই বুঝায়াছেন, আমিই কেন জানি ঠিক বুঝি নাই। (ইন্টারমিডিয়েট লেভেলের জিনিস মেবি, আর আমি বিগিনার)

যাহোক, যেহেতু বুঝি নাই- তাই তিন তারা দেওয়া। অন্যের উপর নিজের প্রতি রাগের শোধ তোলা হইলো হয়তো। সরি ফর দ্যাট।

(Wondrium app... online course.)

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely worth the listen

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good but of course a little dry. I found it more enjoyable than Bambi not surprisingly. Game theory can explain a lot of human behavior!

[Bambi Wood · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good professor but I didn’t feel the theories really had much to do with my life. A bit dry but interesting at times.

[Elvira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple explanations and case studies to show how behavioral economics is part of our daily lives - I enjoyed it, but I would have liked the book to have more complex equations and current research

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Done with this for now, though I enjoyed the bits I did get through. Not a light listen, but well worth the dip into the theory.