Complexity Theory, Game Theory, and Economics: The Barbados Lectures

Tim Roughgarden

doi:10.1561/0400000085

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arXiv · 1801.00734

Complexity Theory, Game Theory, and Economics: The Barbados Lectures

Tim Roughgarden

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Abstract

This document collects the lecture notes from my mini-course "Complexity Theory, Game Theory, and Economics," taught at the Bellairs Research Institute of McGill University, Holetown, Barbados, February 19--23, 2017, as the 29th McGill Invitational Workshop on Computational Complexity. The goal of this mini-course is twofold: (i) to explain how complexity theory has helped illuminate several barriers in economics and game theory; and (ii) to illustrate how game-theoretic questions have led to new and interesting complexity theory, including recent several breakthroughs. It consists of two five-lecture sequences: the Solar Lectures, focusing on the communication and computational complexity of computing equilibria; and the Lunar Lectures, focusing on applications of complexity theory in game theory and economics. No background in game theory is assumed.

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Tim Roughgarden. 2018-01-02. Complexity Theory, Game Theory, and Economics: The Barbados Lectures. https://doi.org/10.1561/0400000085

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