
Off the block: Economists may idolise auctions, but most people do not - prostoalex
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21662595-economists-may-idolise-auctions-most-people-do-not-block?frsc=dg%7Ca
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boulos
I'll point out most _engineers_ also have a fondness for the theoretical
optimality of auctions. As I've pointed out to most of them, that optimality
is conditional on several things but most importantly is that it achieves the
highest clearing price for a specific supply. The economist alludes to this by
saying that auctions aren't great for commodities, but what that really
implies is that if you can make more/lots of something, predictable pricing is
better than per-unit optimality!

