ECON 3801 - Introduction to Game Theory and Strategic Thinking

(SBA-AS)

Fall. 4 credits. Student option grading.

Prerequisite: ECON 1110 or equivalent.

Staff.

A modicum of game-theoretic knowledge is essential in today’s age of complex diplomacy and corporate strategizing. This introductory course is meant to familiarize students with the basic principles of game theory and rational choice in strategic environments. Important ideas and concepts, with real-life illustrations, will be discussed. The course is designed for students with an interest in economics, political strategy, policymaking, and the social sciences, in general.

Over the semester students will learn the essential ideas of Nash, Schelling and others, different conceptualizations of equilibrium, such as the Nash equilibrium and subgame perfect equilibrium, and how they apply to varied contexts, such as competition among private corporations, war and diplomacy, as in the Cuban missile crisis, and also in understanding every day phenomena, such as addiction and procrastination. Students will also be introduced to some unresolved paradoxes of rational behavior which they will be able to pursue and try to solve on their own, during the semester or later in life.