What should a well educated student read?

I've already read most of these myself, and was flattered to be included: What should the well-educated student read?

W.P. Carey Lecture: Who Gets What and Why at Colorado College today

W.P. Carey Lecture:Who Gets What and Why 

with Nobel Laureate in Economics Alvin Roth

Presented by Colorado College at Cornerstone Arts Center Richard F. Celeste Theatre

February 4, 2016

Event Summary:Alvin Roth is the Craig and Susan McCaw professor of economics at Stanford University and the Gund professor of economics and business administration emeritus at Harvard University. Professor Roth has made significant contributions to the fields of game theory, market design and experimental economics, and is known for his emphasis on applying economic theory to solutions for "real-world" problems. In 2012, he won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences jointly with Lloyd Shapley for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design. The topic of Professor Roth's lecture will be "Who Gets What and Why: The New Economics of Matchmaking and Market Design," also the topic of his most recent book. Books will be available for sale after the lecture. Reception following.

Who Gets What and Why in Chinese, and in paperback (in Britain)--the magic of subtitles

 This picture is of Ivy Li's copy of Who Gets What--and Why in Chinese. I gather that the Chinese subtitle is about 'the shared economy.'

The subtitle on the British paperback version also changed from the hardback--publishers have their own magic...

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As it happens, there's a Stanford seminar on subtitles today at 4pm:
AFTERTHOUGHTS ON “FOR AN ABUSIVE SUBTITLING”

At Davos: a conversation with Martin Wolf about market design (video)

Here's a  half hour video of a conversation I enjoyed with Martin Wolf of the Financial Times, at Davos on Friday: A Journey of Discovery with Al Roth


You can also find the video on Youtube, here.

Top 25: What corporate America is reading, December 2015

Here's a best-seller list, published today, that surprised me:
Top 25: What corporate America is reading, December 2015

1. "Who Gets What -- And Why: The New Economics of Matchmaking and Market Design" by Alvin E. Roth, Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

 ...

Who Gets What and Why? Roth at Rotman (video snippet)

Here's  4 minutes (edited and patched together) of snippets from an event at the Rotman School at the University of Toronto, where I spoke about my book Who Gets What and Why, and was interviewed by Joshua Gans, who suggests that market designers might be more arrogant even than other economists. (This snippet also captures me talking about my friend and collaborator Elliott Peranson, whose firm National Matching Services is headquartered in Toronto...and about the Iron Law of Marriage:)

Coming soon in German: Wer kriegt was - und warum? Bildung, Jobs und Partnerwahl: Wie Märkte funktionieren

The German translation of my book, Who Gets What -- and Why? is coming out in March.

 The subtitle of the book changes with each translation.  In the U.S. edition, the subtitle is The New Economics of Matchmaking and Market Design.

In the U.K. edition it is The Hidden World of Matchmaking and Market Design.
Google translate renders the German subtitle , Bildung, Jobs und Partnerwahl: Wie Märkte funktionieren, as "Education, Jobs and mate selection: Markets Work"

Short book review that I liked

One of the fun things about writing Who Gets What and Why was figuring out how to write about economics in a way that might be accessible to non-economists. So I was heartened by this line from a very short recent book review:

"Reading this book will make you proud of yourself because you read something about economics, written by a Nobel-Prize-winning economist, and you understood it."

Curious Minds interviews me about matching, market design, and a phone call that set me on my path (podcast)

CM 014: Alvin Roth on the Secrets of Market Design

By Gayle | December 14, 2015 | 0 

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Nobel-prize-winning economist Alvin Roth explores the markets that shape our lives, particularly our work, our health care and our schools. He also explains how key technologies enable companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Google to thrive. His insights extend beyond products, services, and features to include how successful companies attract and hire the most talented employees.

Alvin Roth is a Stanford University Professor, and bestselling author of Who Gets What – and Why: The New Economics of Matchmaking and Market Design. In this episode you will learn:

• how one phone call and a pivotal decision ultimately led to a Nobel Prize
• the important differences between markets
• the role of markets when it comes to marriage, loans, and more
• the role of social support in markets
• the ways the Internet and mobile technology shape market possibilities
• the three key factors that influence the success of companies like Airbnb and Uber
• the ways Smartphones are influencing markets
• how labor market findings influenced the market designs of today
• what game theory can teach us about getting into college and getting a job
• how market designers are applying their skills to the growing global refugee crisis

Alvin also shares what got him interested in the economics of market design and the potential this new field holds for helping us rethink what markets are and can do.

Book talk in Toronto, tomorrow, Dec 10

Big Ideas Speaker Series @ Rotman

Event Details

Speaker Series

Date:	Thursday December 10, 2015 | 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM
Speaker(s):	Alvin Roth, McCaw Professor of Economics, Stanford University; Co-Recipient, 2012 Nobel Prize in Economics; Author
Topic:	Who Gets What - and Why: The New Economics of Matchmaking and Market Design (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, June 2, 2015)
Venue:	Desautels Hall (2nd floor, South Building) | map Rotman School of Management, U of Toronto, 105 St George Street
Location:	Toronto
Cost:	$36.00 plus HST per person (includes 1 seat at the session and 1 signed hardcover copy of Who Gets What - And Why)

Register Now

Having Trouble Registering?

Book Synopsis: A Nobel laureate reveals the often surprising rules that govern a vast array of activities — both mundane and life-changing — in which money may play little or no role.  If you’ve ever sought a job or hired someone, applied to college or guided your child into a good kindergarten, asked someone out on a date or been asked out, you’ve participated in a kind of market. Most of the study of economics deals with commodity markets, where the price of a good connects sellers and buyers. But what about other kinds of “goods,” like a spot in the Yale freshman class or a position at Google? This is the territory of matching markets, where “sellers” and “buyers” must choose each other, and price isn’t the only factor determining who gets what.  Alvin E. Roth is one of the world’s leading experts on matching markets. He has even designed several of them, including the exchange that places medical students in residencies and the system that increases the number of kidney transplants by better matching donors to patients. In Who Gets What — And Why, Roth reveals the matching markets hidden around us and shows how to recognize a good match and make smarter, more confident decisions.

J.P. Morgan’s Holiday Reading List

J.P. Morgan’s Holiday Reading List

"The bank just released internally its ninth-annual holiday reading list, continuing a tradition of offering its private bank and investment-management clients a year-end roster of book suggestions. The list is focused on celebrating, giving and sharing, said Darin Oduyoye, who crafted the bank’s reading list idea and leads communications for J.P. Morgan’s asset management division.

"This year’s list of seven titles range from Jimmy Carter’s latest autobiography to the economics of matchmaking. It even includes a musical interlude: the cast recording of the hit Broadway show “Hamilton.” J.P. Morgan asset management executives from Dubai, Milan, Sao Paulo and New York, among other cities, met several times – and did a lot of reading — to narrow down the list from 516 titles, Mr. Oduyoye added.

"Here’s a look at this season’s picks:

A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety by Jimmy Carter

America’s Bank: The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve by Roger Lowenstein

Hamilton: An American Musical (Original Cast Recording) by Lin-Manuel Miranda

I Am Because You Are: How the Spirit of Ubuntu Inspired an Unlikely Friendship and Transformed a Community by Jacob Lief and Andrea Thompson

Life is Good: The Book by Bert Jacobs and John Jacobs

Maya Lin: Topologies by Maya Lin, text by Michael Brenson, William L. Fox and Paul Goldberger

Who Gets What — and Why: The New Economics of Matchmaking and Market Design by Alvin E. Roth

Could the Swiss apprenticeship market use some market design?

A review of Who Gets What and Why from Switzerland suggests that the Swiss apprenticeship market is unraveled and could use some market design: Ökonomie als Ingenieurskunst, by David Staubli.

Google Translate: "With these findings, perhaps could also improve the design of the Swiss apprenticeship market. The current system suffers from the same problems as before the American job market for junior doctors. A mandatory cut-off date to Submit quotations from the part of the company would preserve the future trainees from having to be set too early and then lose the motivation for the school routine. The coordinated timing to Submit apprenticeships contracts would also increase market depth and the "matching" improve."

Hedge fund manager Peter Pham interviews me about Who Gets What and Why

Not really a video (the first image is the only image:), just a recorded 35 minute conversation, focusing more than usual on financial markets :

@iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/who-gets-what-why-ft.-professor/id952345306?i=354665107&mt=2

@Podomatic http://thebigtrade.podomatic.com/entry/2015-10-13T02_24_40-07_00

@Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ef3bYYVSiY&index=41&list=PLXVUUPqHYjzFuJQyk2hUzXF4aYa1nazSs
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Pham also writes about our conversation in Forbes:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterpham/2015/10/27/who-gets-what-and-why/

Two public lectures today in Vancouver

Two lectures, two different topics (with a little overlap:). If you're in Vancouver...

At UBC: Woodward Lecture Series: Repugnant Transactions
19 November 2015 12:30-2:00 pm
MATH Building, Room 100
"The Vancouver School of Economics is very pleased to host Nobel Laureate Alvin Roth for a free lecture entitled “Repugnant Transactions”.

AT SFU Economics: BMO Public Lecture: 
 Who Gets What and Why: The Economics of Life Choices from School Admissions to Kidney Exchange
1200 Event Room, Segal School of Business (SFU Vancouver)
500 Granville St., Vancouver
Time: 7:00 PM , Thursday, November 19, 2015
"You participate in many more markets than you may realize. From school admissions to kidney exchanges, markets are all around us - even when no money exchanges hands. Alvin Roth, winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Economics, explains the economics of hidden markets and how market design can help fix broken markets, and create new ones. Professor Roth will explore how we can make better decisions by matching our desires in a marketplace."

What a review of Who Gets What and Why would look like if my name were Andy...

The Nation gives me a trendier first name in a review of Who Gets What and Why.

The challenge of designing Asia-proof markets:

"One positive consequence of the global financial crisis is a complete rethink of the foundations of economic analysis. Of the thousands of ideas that are beginning to challenge economic orthodoxy, two books stand out. The first is Nassim Taleb's "Anti-fragility", which challenged the whole basis of conventional risk management. The other is Nobel Laureate Andy Roth's "Who Gets What - and Why: The New Economics of Matchmaking and Market Design", which returns to the fundamentals of markets."

Economic Rockstar podcast: Alvin Roth on Match-Making, Repugnant Markets and Market Design

You can find the interview here:
Economic Rockstar Connecting Brilliant Minds in Economics and Finance
057: Alvin Roth on Match-Making, Repugnant Markets and Market Design November 5, 2015

Who Gets What and Why in Dutch

Here is a book review in Dutch of the English version of Who Gets What and Why, by Burak Can. And here is his translation of his review in English: Book Review: “Who gets what and why?” by Al Roth

Chapter 4 of Who Gets What and Why, in the Milken Institute Review (with art work...)

The Milken Institute Review, Fourth Quarter 2015, has published an excerpt--Chapter 4--of Who Gets What and Why.  It comes with illustrations, which aren't in the original. The chapter is mostly about unraveling, and includes discussion of college football bowls, the market for law school graduates, and medical fellowships...and why Oklahomans are called "Sooners," and fraternity and sorority recruitment is called "rush."

Book Excerpt--Who Gets What and Why

Here's the introduction to the excerpt, by Peter Passell

"Alvin Roth, the author of this excerpt from Who Gets What – and Why,* won a Nobel in economics in 2012 for his work on the “the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design.” I know, I know: that’s hardly an intro likely to induce you to dive right in. Most Nobels in economics, after all, are awarded for accomplishments that are too arcane for mere mortals to comprehend. And even the prize winners who do have something pressing to say to the public can rarely write their way out of that proverbial paper bag.

" But Roth and this book are spectacular exceptions. While he was really trained as a mathematician (his PhD is in a discipline called operations research), Roth’s vision has never strayed far from the practical. And he’s a natural-born writer to boot.

"Roth designs “matching markets,” where price alone can’t balance supply and demand – think of markets for everything from marriage to college admissions. Indeed, he’s even saved lives by helping to design an ingenious way to match more donated kidneys to needy patients.

"The chapter excerpted here will give you a taste of his fine mind and formidable ability to make complicated ideas comprehensible. — Peter Passell"
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See this earlier post with a video of the conversation about the book that Peter and I had in June: Peter Passell interviews me at the Milken Institute on Who Gets What — and Why: The New Economics of Matchmaking and Market Design


The rest of the book can be found at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Who-Gets-What-Why-Matchmaking/dp/0544291131 

Market Design as a Resource for Social Justice Research

Sebastian Lotz has a book review essay about Who Gets What - and Why in the September issue of the journal Social Justice Research, Engineering Fairness? Market Design as a Resource for Social Justice Research, September 2015, Volume 28, Issue 3, pp 391-399. (The link gives you access only to the first few pages--to read the whole thing I had to access it through Stanford library.)

He motivates the connection between design and justice this way:

"Social justice research has an inherent interest in how people, groups, or societies deal with competition over scarce resources. Many theories of social conflict suggest that at instances when people try to allocate scarce resources, individual (or group-based) egoistic inclinations lead to competitive action that ultimately result in social harm (Lind, 1995). A key challenge for social justice research is to overcome these harms. Market design and the related field of behavioral economic engineering (e.g., Bolton & Ockenfels, 2012) designs real-world institutions and mechanisms that align individual incentives with the underlying goals set by societies, companies or other social groups. Market design is a hybrid between theory and application as it has a strong focus on (economic and related) theory but a strong interest in applying insights in the real world, leading to the connotation of the economist as an “engineer” (Bolton & Ockenfels, 2012; Roth, 2002)"

and concludes
"To sum up, I think that Roth’s (2015) book “Who gets what and Why?” provides a viable opportunity for social justice scholars to familiarize themselves with the main ideas and selected achievements of market design. Wrapped up in personal anecdotes from an exciting research life, Roth manages to introduce a topic to a broader audience that has been traditionally dominated by complex game-theoretical jargon. The mere fact that market design has been influential in many fields, among them law, medicine, education, but also government auctions, makes the field interesting to our community. In his final conclusions, Roth states that markets are not a natural phenomenon, but human artifacts that can be maintained, improved, and sometimes even newly created. With justice being a core concern of humans, market design as a method to increase procedural and distributional justice can be a valuable add-on to the justice researcher’s toolbox, especially when we adopt Roth’s relatively broad conception of a market."

Who Gets What and Why: podcast at Ideas Books

Craig Barfoot at IdeasBooks interviews me about Who Gets What and Why: our conversation ranges over repugnant transactions, kidney exchange, and my treadmill desk.  You can find the podcast (about 20 minutes) here: http://www.ideasbooks.org/news/2015/10/1/episode-9-alvin-roth-who-gets-what-and-why
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It looks like you can find it here too:
http://podacademy.org/bookpods/matching-markets-who-gets-what-and-why/