The Pie: An Economics Podcast A Conversation with Roger Myerson: Harmonicas, Xenophon, and Why Your Mayor Matters More Than You Think
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Dec 16, 2025 
Roger Myerson, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and University of Chicago professor, dives into the fascinating interplay of economics and democracy. He discusses how local governance supports national stability and highlights Ukraine's decentralization as a case study in effective local leadership during conflict. Myerson also shares insights on mechanism design, auction theory, and the influence of ancient political thought on modern economics. With a playful nod to harmonica tuning, he encourages researchers to focus on intuition and real-world problems.
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Harmonica Redesign Sparked By Axioms
- Roger Myerson described redesigning the harmonica after finding existing tunings unsatisfactory and ordering a custom instrument.
- He used axioms and collaborated with other hobbyists to produce several improved designs.
Incentive Constraints Extend Economics
- Mechanism design extends economic analysis by adding incentive constraints to resource constraints.
- This explains problems like hidden information and unobservable effort that markets alone can't resolve.
Economics Began As Estate And Political Management
- The word economics (oikonomos) originally concerned managing estates and political institutions, not prices.
- Xenophon emphasized agency and political risks long before market-price models emerged.