We’ve written in the past about the life-like struggles for resources and justice in online roleplaying games and universes. Now comes word that EVE Online, a sci-fi MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game), has hired a full-time economist, Eyjólfur Guðmundsson, to help manage the game’s virtual economy. Insert your own joke.
(Hat tip: Derek Guder)
Stephen J. Dubner is an author and journalist who lives in New York City.
Steven D. Levitt is a professor of economics at the University of Chicago.
Their book Freakonomics has sold 3 million copies worldwide. This blog, begun in 2005, is meant to keep the conversation going. Recurring guest bloggers include Ian Ayres, Jessica Hagy, Daniel Hamermesh, Sudhir Venkatesh, and Justin Wolfers.
Annika Mengisen is the site editor.
Dubner was first published at age 11 in Highlights magazine -- which, in honor of its 60th anniversary, has just recognized him as a “Highlights Kid” who went on to become a professional writer, as Dubner puts it: "for better or worse."
November 20
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Since last Wednesday, the torrent of junk e-mail coursing through the internet has been slowed dramatically, with 40 percent or more of it cut off at the source.
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November 20
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Ron Paul
When we solicited your questions for Congressman Ron Paul shortly after the election, so many questions came in that we split Paul’s answers into two batches, the first of which was published last week.
Here is the second. Like the first batch, they are well-considered and interesting throughout; they will surely make many [...]
November 20
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I often get emails from blog readers asking me to shed light on some issue that, in the mind of the email writer, is a pressing social or economic issue. Sometimes it is a big issue like immigration or the financial crisis. More often it is something less mainstream, like election fraud or an unusual [...]
November 20
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November 19
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Photo: Jamesfischer
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So we asked a group of people — Nick Mills, [...]
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Even if you don’t have a son fighting in Iraq, even if you don’t read poetry, even if you think you are immune to the power of a mother’s lament – pick up The Warrior and read it right away. Fran Richey has written some of the most powerful stories I’ve ever encountered. It is obvious that her life was changed by living these poems; yours may well be changed by reading them. (SJD)
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7 Comments
With apologies to Truman, in EVE, an economist avatar really can have three hands, which helps in giving truthful predictions (”on the other hand…but on the other hand…)
— KuzI don’t think this is all that strange. I’ve been participating off and on in the fake economy of Neopets.com for over 5 years now.
— EndymionI think every player will just freeze on their game play when the economist recites the incantation “ceteris paribus” a la Harry Potter.
— LLPThere can never be enough job opportunities for economists because all you have to do is teach a parrot to say “supply equals demand” and guess what you have?
— bridgehomeI’m no economist, but after playing EVE for some time, I would say that the economy is pretty complex. The game simulates resources extraction, manufacturing, and intellectual property (blueprints for high-end objects are sources of virtual power in the game). I’m glad to see that someone with formal training will actually try to make the economic machine hum.
— VisLLP - I’m glad to see someone else calls it the Harry Potter Clause. This is how I help my students remember what ceteris paribus means!
— fruitlucyI’m an econ student who plays Eve, so naturally this interests me. That said, this is one MMO where it really may not be necessary. With the exception of various patches fundamentally changing supply and demand curves(e.g., the last big patch made certain things far easier to come by, which cut their price by half or so, while making a certain ship class far more useful, thereby spiking the price until production could ramp up to meet the new demand), the economy is remarkably stable. Resource prices fluctuate slightly, but not by a lot, and since the price of everything else is tied intimately to the price of resources, it’s hard for things to get too off-kilter. They’ve broken up the big cartels somewhat, they changed supply curves when necessary, and overall most things are stable.
I appreciate the thought, and I’ll be interested to see what he has to say, but I’m not sure it’s really necessary.
— Alsadius