In this episode, Scott Kominers introduces us to the exciting world of NFTs. We learn about their fascinating properties and their potential for creating new markets or reshaping existing ones. Scott also gives a few practical examples of how NFTs can be used, both in the digital and the real world.

Scott also gave us the idea of creating our very own NFT: We used the Proof of Attendance Protocol (POAP) to create a “digital badge or collectible” using blockchain technology. POAPs are typically used to digitally prove attendance of an event. In our case, we use them as a fun way to celebrate this Game Changer episode with our listeners. You can claim your very own POAP by contacting us via email at gamechanger@tws-partners.com.

Scott Duke Kominers is Professor of Business Administration in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School, a Faculty Affiliate of the Harvard Department of Economics, and a Research Partner at a16z crypto. He also advises a number of companies on marketplace and incentive design, especially in the world of crypto and web3. He is co-authoring a book about NFTs.

In this episode, we discuss with Achim how addressing climate change and economics, especially market design, are linked. Achim shares which economic incentives we should utilize to ensure we can meet our climate goal. Our discussion is based on Achim’s very recent new book publication “Klima muss sich lohnen”.

Achim Wambach is the president of the ZEW, the Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, and professor of economics at the University of Mannheim. He was a member of the German Monopolies Commission from 2014 to June 2022 and served as its chairman from 2016 to September 2020. Achim also is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

In this episode, Bruce shows us how Game Theory can be successfully applied in the field of political science. In particular, we discuss the explanatory and predictive power of the Selectorate Theory, which analyses political systems regarding their properties as democracy or autocracy.

Bruce explains the underlying game theoretic model of this theory, how he obtains the data, and which conclusions he can draw from the results, including predictions on coups or revolutions.

Bruce Bueno de Mesquita is the Julius Silver professor at New York University and emeritus senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He is a political scientist, specializing in policy forecasting, political economy, and international security policy. He is also the author of many books, like “The predictioneer’s game” and “The dictator’s handbook”, among others.

You can read more on the Selectorate Theory here, here and here, and develop your own predictions using the online version of the Predictioneer’s Game software.

In this episode Christoph Kuzmics explains the game theoretic concept of Common Knowledge, using fun anecdotes from his personal life. We also learn that Common Knowledge is much more than just passing information to all parties, and that in some situations, it is desirable not to establish full information.

Christoph Kuzmics is professor of microeconomics at the university of Graz, Austria. His research focusses on the development of the theory of strategic interaction and its application to the social sciences.

He also runs the Game Theory blog gametheory.life, where he shares fun anecdotes and examples of game theory from everyday life. This podcast episode is based on his blog articles “The dinner gong” and “non-secret-voting”.

This is a short announcement of Game Changer Podcast going on summer break and returning on September 13^th.
Enjoy your summer and until September – the TWS Game changer team!