What do price wars, tennis, legislation, and family life have in common? They are all strategic situations: people make decisions that directly affect other people’s well-being as well as their own. Game Theory is the study of strategic situations. Many people have heard about game theory from the Economics Nobel Prize announcements in 1994 and in 2007 or from the movie A Beautiful Mind. The goal of this course is to understand the basics of game theory through examples. We will learn about strategies, Nash equilibrium, commitment, and what “common knowledge” is — all through real world applications. Some topics in game theory that may be used in high school social studies or mathematics education will be suggested. And, of course, we will play some games!
Instructor: Adam Galambos, assistant professor of economics, Lawrence University