Schelling's Game Theory How to Make Decisions

Thomas Schelling won the Nobel Prize in economics "for having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis." This came after he had taught a course in game theory and rational choice to advanced students and government officials for 45 years. In this book, Robert Dodge provides in language for a broad audience, the concepts that Schelling taught. Armed with Schelling's understanding of game theory methods and his approaches to problems, the general reader can improve daily decision making. Mathematics often make game theory challenging but was not a major part of Schelling's course and is even less of a factor in this book. Along with a summary of the material Schelling presented, included are problems from the course and similar less challenging questions. While considerable analysis is done with the basic game theory tool -- the two-by-two matrix -- much of the book is descriptive and rational decision-making is explained with stories. Chapter supplements are added to illuminate points presented by Schelling, including writings by Paul Krugman, Thomas Friedman, Steven Levitt, and others.

Foreword by Thomas C. Schelling. Chapter I Thomas Schelling and His Signature Course on Strategic Thinking. Part One: The Schelling Approach to Strategic Thinking and Decision-Making. Chapter 2 Introduction to Strategic Thought. Chapter 3 Vicarious Thinking. Chapter 4 Game Theory. Chapter 5 The Two-By-Two Matrix. Part Two: Strategies and Tactics. Chapter 6 Strategies Defined and Illustrated. Chapter 7 Tactics. Chapter 8 Self-Command. Part Three: Models as Metaphors For What Decisions Do. Chapter 9 Interaction Models. Chapter 10 The Dollar Auction. Chapter 11 Musical Chairs and Inescapable Mathematics. Part Four: The Prisoner's Dilemma, Competition and Cooperation. Chapter 12 The Prisoner's Dilemma. Chapter 13 Cooperation. Chapter 14 Coordination. Part Five: Individual Decisions and Group Agreement. Chapter 15 Collective Choice and Voting. Chapter 16 The Commons and Fair Division. Chapter 17 Case Study, Overcoming Professional Basketball's Commons Dilemma:. The Phil Jackson Story. Part Six: Decisions that Mix and Sort Populations, Decisions Based on. Randomization. Chapter 18 Critical Mass and Tipping. Chapter 19 Individual Decisions and Group Outcomes. Chapter 20 Randomization in Decision-Making. Part Seven: Case Study and Review. Chapter 21 Case Study, The Cuban Missile Crisis: Analysis and Review.

Robert V. Dodge is author of The Strategist: The Life and Times of Thomas Schelling and retired from 23 years of teaching at the Singapore American School.