first-price auctions, in which the winning bidder pays what she bids, have their own charms and exist in many varieties. One version of a first-price auction is used to sell cut flowers in bulk, in a “descending bid” auction. The auctioneer sets up a “clock” that has the current bid on it, starting with a very high bid and quickly descending, until some bidder stops the clock by offering the price it currently shows,
