Game Theory in the print media

Examples of Game Theory in the media are almost endless. This is because individual decision making is hugely interdependent. Have a browse though some of these newspaper articles that illustrate game theory at work. It might be best to print them out and write notes on the game theory aspects that arise in each.

Here is a Financial Times piece by John Kay on the Battle of the Sexes and this from the same author on the Game of Chicken.

Andrea Farina is the 2007 World Rock Paper Scissors Champion. I kid you not! ESPN have announced that they are going to televise the RPS Championships! And the 2008 World Champion is Irish.

This is what can happen if firms get caught colluding. But of course countries are able to collude and get away with it. Although slightly dated this piece gives a good idea of what OPEC is all about. The BBC report here shows how a coffee equivalent to OPEC was less successful.

It may seem I have a strange fixation with NASCAR but this article from Slate manages to link car racing and Game Theory. It is actually quite credible as racing is by its nature strategic - watch the end of Days of Thunder for proof. Oh go on, you know you want to. Here it is courtesy of YouTube and remember "Cole always goes high!"

Poker has seen a huge increase in its popularity recently. This piece gives an easy insight into the Game Theory fundamentals of games such as poker and tries to convince that a computer can make the best player. Those who want to add a little Game Theory to their poker game should read this. A nice piece on poker by Tim Harford can be found here and finishes with the suggestion that online poker may be threatened if a winning computer poker player can be created.

See why drug taking is a Prisoner's Dilemma in sports and find out here the strategy involved in Penalty Shootouts.

This piece from The Business Journal uses Game Theory and The Matching Pennies game to exlain why you can't beat the stock market over the long run.In this piece stock's markets are compared to newspaper beauty contests.

There are thousands of more examples but the above selection should give you a taste of what's out there.