Chapter 1: Introduction to Strategic Reason
Beauty Contest: a.k.a. the Keynesian Guessing Game. Whetting the appetite for the class. Not much will be explained at this time—just leave students with some basic intuition, as we will come back to this game more formally and in-depth in Chapter 3.
Chapter 2: Building a Model of a Strategic Situation
Extensive form game: alternating round bargaining.
Strategic form game: Prisoner’s Dilemma, either the matrix or Push n’ Pull.
Chapter 3: Eliminating the Impossible
Beauty Contest: a.k.a. the Keynesian Guessing Game. Demonstrate iterative logic and forecasting.
Private Value, Sealed Bid Auction: with second-price rule
Chapter 4: Nash equilibria, 2-player games
Matrix: design your own m x n game
Coordination Games: Bach or Stravinsky, Stag Hunt; Minimum Effort
Chapter 5: Nash equilibria: discrete n-player games
Judge Me Not: complicated payoff function, interior equilibrium with n>13
Chapter 7: Equilibria in mixed strategies
The Classics: Matching Pennies; Rock, Paper, Scissors
MinMax: Asymmetric, mixed-strategy equilibrium
Hide & Seek: Do focal points affect equilibrium play?
Matrix: design your own m x n game
Chapter 8: Sequential Games
Trust
Ultimatum: Available in either game-play or strategy method
Chapter 10: Private Information
Auctions: First-price private value; Common value
Chapter 11: Signaling
Market for Lemons: Classic game leads to discussion of real-world solutions