John Nash: The master of economic modeling

Abstract

During the past two decades non-cooperative game theory has become a central topic in economic theory. Many scholars have contributed to this revolution, none more than John Nash. Following the publication of von Neumann and Morgenstern's book, it was Nash's papers in the early fifties which pointed the way for future research in game theory. The notion of Nash equilibrium is indispensable. Nash's formulation of the bargaining problem and the Nash bargaining solution constitute the cornerstone of modern bargaining theory. His insights into the non-cooperative foundations of cooperative game theory initiated an area of research known as the Nash program. Nash's analysis of the demand game in which he uses a perturbation of a game to select an equilibrium inspired the construction of several refinements of the notion of Nash equilibrium. A scholar's influence does not necessarily qualify him for a Nobel prize. One may argue that such awards are a social institution established to serve social goals. It is legitimate to ask what message the Swedish Academy sends to the scientific community and the rest of the world. In some cases, prizes are designed to encourage individuals to invest their resources in endeavors that are important to society. Nash's achievements depend more on his genius than on characteristics which can be encouraged by utilitarian incentives. Sometimes, prizes are expressions of social indebtedness towards members of society who have devoted their life towards advancing a social goal: Nash's active career was intensive but very short and I have not heard that he deliberately sacrificed attractive alternatives in favor of advancing economic knowledge. Prizes are also intended to promote the recipient's field of research. By now, game theory is well recognized; any graduate student in economics is familiar with the foundations of non-cooperative game theory and I doubt that there is any further need to expand the influence of game theory.