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Earth Wind Map
prior probability enjoys collecting maps of various kinds, especially during our foreign travels. Our quirky and eclectic collection includes maps of the Amazon, the Moscow Metro, and the Berlin Wall, among many others. But we recently discovered (through digg.com) the most beautiful … Continue reading
Why don’t more people play “credit card roulette”?
Credit Card Roulette or CCR is “a way of gambling for bills, usually played for the purpose of settling restaurant checks, by randomly drawing one participant’s credit card.” The website pokerterms.com (from which my definition of CCR is borrowed) offers the following illustration of … Continue reading
We lost a good man today
My mentor and friend Stan Talcott left us last night. I have so many fond memories of Stan, I don’t know where to begin. He was the quintessential “open door” man, always willing to share his time and good counsel … Continue reading
Are “swing voters” good Bayesians?
I was trying to explain Bayesian probability to my eldest daughter Adela Luisa the other day. (She is only 13, but she is super smart.) In the process of explaining Bayes’ theorem to her, however, I realized that many areas … Continue reading
“It’s not that I’m so smart …
… it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” ~ Albert Einstein Aside from this beautiful quote from a beautiful mind, here are some concrete exam tips for my Torts class. First and foremost, remember that Torts is ultimately about … Continue reading
Does the Prisoner’s Dilemma falsify the Coase Theorem?
The Coase Theorem is an idea in law and economics that states that private bargaining will lead to an optimal allocation of resources when two conditions are met: when property rights are well-defined, and when there are no obstacles to voluntary … Continue reading
Should drones be regulated?
Some people say “not yet.” Eli Dourado, for example, argues thus: It’s true that opening up U.S. airspace to commercial drones will have some important privacy implications to consider. But it’s even more important that we consider the effect of too-early, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged common law, Drones, invasion of privacy, optimal regulation
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Why do jury verdicts have to be unanimous?
And why do verdicts have to be binary–i.e. either “guilty” or “not guilty”? What if jurors were allowed instead to rate or score the plaintiff’s case, just like people rate movies or restaurants. In our most recent working paper, Why … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged holdouts, ignorant jurors, juries, jury accuracy, range verdicts, range voting, strategic jurors
2 Comments
A history of the Prisoner’s Dilemma
The Prisoner’s Dilemma–or is it Prisoners’ Dilemma?–is not only one of the most famous models in game theory; it has also been described as a “compelling drama,” as “the most famous game of strategy in all of social science,” and … Continue reading
