The 2021 Nobel Economics Prize has been awarded to Robert Wilson and Paul Milgrom for their work in analyzing auctions and how to make them more efficient.

At the heart of the work for which Milgrom and Wilson have been awarded is the winner’s curse.【小题1】. An example might be the right to mine a certain area for gold. If no gold is found, the right will be worthless; but if there turns out to be a lot of gold, it will be valuable. Different bidders may have different opinions about how much hold is on the site. The more optimistic they are, the more they will be willing to bid. The most optimistic bid will win. But the true value is likely to turn out much closer to the average rather than the highest valuation, so winning bidders are likely to overpay.

Wilson’s work has shown that the fear of the winner's curse leads rational bidders to bid less than the own valuation.【小题2】. Their final price will therefore be lower.

Milgrom built on this to examine the case of auctions where there is not only a common value but also a private value that differs between bidders. In focusing again on the winner’s curse, Milgrom determined that English-style auctions, where the price starts low and is bid upward, are better at avoiding the winner's curse than Dutch-style auctions — where the price starts high and is bid downward. This is because bidders gain more information about an item's value during an English-style auction, as other bidders drop out.【小题3】.

How have such insights help society? For one thing, Milgrom and Wilson developed the Simultaneous Multiple Round Auction (SMRA). In these auctions, all biddable items are offered at the same time and bidders can bid on any portion of the items. The SMRA is useful, for example, if a company wants to bid for a license in one area only if it can also have the license in another area.【小题4】. Running auctions simultaneously allows governments to maximize the prices of valuable assets.【小题5】

Perhaps you know two people would get on well—if only they would speak to each other. Your shy friends aren’t intentionally avoiding one another; it is just not in their nature to strike up a conversation. You can help things along by greasing (润滑) the wheels of social interaction. 【小题1】 In fact, they might both be grateful that you helped them get past the initial awkwardness.

Make Introductions

The first step to getting two shy people to talk to one another is to offer an introduction. 【小题2】 If you see two shy people sitting together but not talking, walk over and offer an ice breaker. A brief introduction with a piece of information that ties the two shy people together will be most helpful.

Ease Anxiety

【小题3】 As they talk, an inner thought tells them that they are not good enough, smart enough or funny enough. They think that everyone else is judging them and that they never measure up. You may be able to help two shy people overcome this social hurdle by building their social confidence and belief that they are mutually (相互地) liked.

Find Mutual Interests

Give your shy friends a reason to talk. Figure out what they have in common and let them know about it. For example, if Josh and David are both into watching the UFC, make an introduction and a comment about the latest fight. 【小题4】 But once the two shy people are absorbed in their favorite topic, you can quietly slip away.

Get Active

Shy people have trouble living in the moment. They tend to think about past weaknesses or worry about future social obstacles rather than focus on the current situation. Put your shy friends in a situation that forces them to stop thinking so much and have a little fun. Ideally, your shy acquaintances should have to work together to overcome an obstacle—similar to what happens at company party. 【小题5】