I like this book a lot, but it is not suitable for undergraduate students.  It is not really an introduction, but a critical essay which gets a bit technical at times.  I was persuaded by their general position, however.

Peter

Bill Lear wrote:
On Tuesday, January 7, 2003 at 09:26:35 (-0800) Devine, James writes:
  
I've been reading GAME THEORY AND ECONOMIC MODELLING by David M. Kreps. It's
a useful survey because it doesn't get bogged down in the technical details
(as textbooks do) and provides some philosophical reflection on the whole GT
project. Most importantly, it's not a rah-rah book promoting GT but keeps
its praise tempered while explaining GT's limitations (even within the
narrow confines of the neoclassical world-view). 

The problem is that the book was published in 1990 and is thus out of date.
Does anyone know of a more recent book in this vein? 
    

Shaun Hargreaves Heap and Yanis Varoufakis Varoufakis published Game
Theory: A Critical Introduction in 1995.  Description from Amazon:

In recent years game theory has swept through all of the social
sciences. Its practi[ti]oners have great designs for it, claiming that it
offers an opportunity to unify the social sciences and that it it the
natural foundation of a rational theory of society. Game Theory is for
those who are intrigued but baffled by these claims, and daunted by
the technical demands of most introductions to the subject. Requiring
no more than simple arithmetic, the book: * Traces the origins of Game
Theory and its philosophical premises * Looks at its implications for
the theory of bargaining and social contract theory * Gives a detailed
exposition of all of the major `games' including the famous
`prisoner's dilemma' * Analyses cooperative, non cooperative,
repeated, evolutionary and experimental games.


I liked Varoufakis' intro econ book a lot.  Not sure if this is useful
to you or not.


Bill
  

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