Truck and Barter

BBC Radio has been running a series on specific numbers, called (plainspoken folk that they are) Five Numbers. In general, the programs programmes are quite good, so a listen through all of them is encouraged.

But more specifically for this audience, I'd suggest the final programme in the second series (titled, wittingly, Another Five Numbers) which is on not a number specifically, but rather Game Theory in general, and as applied to various economic issues:

Not long ago auctions seemed to be the preserve of either the mega-rich, bidding for Van Goghs at some plush auction house, or the shady car-dealer, paying cash-no-questions-asked for vehicles of dubious provenance. However, the advent of the Internet and David Dickinson has changed this. Auction web-sites allow the average punter to buy and sell pretty much anything, whilst an army of Bargain Hunt devotees can now happily tell their Delft from their Dresden.

But this auctioneering is just the tip of the iceberg. In 2000, the UK government received a windfall of around £23 billion from its auction of third generation (3G) mobile phone licences. This astronomical sum wasn't the result of corporate bidders "losing their heads", but a careful strategy designed to maximise proceeds for the Treasury.

Click here to open up the .RAM file.

K. Brancato adds: This reminds me of this google search I performed last week, which yielded this ad:

Unfortunately, nobody was auctioning off a pre-owned F-5 that I was in the market for.