In fact, the lesson here goes far beyond auctions. In a landmark finding called the “revelation principle,” Nobel laureate Roger Myerson proved that any game that requires strategically masking the truth can be transformed into a game that requires nothing but simple honesty. Paul Milgrom, Myerson’s colleague at the time, reflects: “It’s one of those results that as you look at it from different sides, on the one side, it’s just absolutely shocking and amazing, and on the other side, it’s trivial. And that’s totally wonderful, it’s so awesome: that’s how you know you’re looking at one of the
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