Showing posts with label Stanford. Show all posts

Markets where money is not allowed or doesn’t work

Thanks to one of my favourite podcasts, Freakonomics Radio, I was introduced to Al Roth’s work. He’s a professor of economics at Stanford, and also the Nobel Prize winner in economics in 2012.

Prof Roth takes what I am doing with my bartering project, to a whole other level.

He develops markets where money is either not allowed to play a role (like organ donation) or doesn’t work in that market (like job markets).

He has developed algorithms that lead to people being chosen, due to certain criteria, for a match where there is a need.

It’s very interesting to see that money can actually limit needs being met, and that there are ways around using a money system for exchange.

Examples are what Prof Roth and his colleagues have found – exchange systems that help the supply of goods or services being matched with the best possible needs with no cash involved at all.

Have a listen to the podcast here.