Season 6, Episode 6: In this clip, Daenerys flies in on her dragon and asks her soldiers to be her loyal “blood riders.” This is similar to how nations in the past have overcome the ‘principal-agent problem.’ The principal-agent problem asserts that there is some conflict in priorities between the ‘principal’ and the ‘agent,’ who …
Read more “Daenerys’s Dragons: A Solution to the Principal-Agent Problem”
Season 1, Episode 9: The Starks want to safely cross water but need Lord Frey’s position. They are in a bad position and he is reluctant and in a good position. In bargaining, we’d say that the Stark’s Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) was low while Lord Frey’s was high. As bargaining theory …
Read more “Lord Frey has Bargaining Advantage in Game of Thrones”
Season 5 Episode 7: In this clip, Cersei is cornered by the High Sparrow, the religious leader in the Seven Kingdoms. Cersei empowered the High Sparrow to attack her political opponents, but he eventually turned on Cersei and imprisoned her. This is an example of unintended consequences. Often, governments will implement economic policies without considering …
Read more “Cersei’s Gambit: The Unintended Consequences of Power”
Season 5 Episode 7: In this clip, Jorah is sold to a slaver who plans to use Jorah as a fighter in a fighting pit. To stop this, Tyrion argues that he is also a great fighter and that he and Jorah are a team. The other slaver finds Tyrion funny and decides to buy …
The assassins (Blood and Cheese) break in and want to kill Prince Jaehaerys. They don’t know which sleeping child is the prince, however. Their mother (the Queen Helaena) is asked to reveal which one is the prince. The Queen doesn’t want the heir to the throne to be killed and the assassins want to kill …
Read more “Game Theory in House of the Dragon: A Mixed Strategy for the Prince’s Life”
Season 1, Episode 3: In this clip, Cersei tells her son “The North cannot be held…not by an outsider. It’s too big and too wild.” This can help us understand the principal-agent problem. The principal-agent problem states there is a conflict in priorities between the principal – normally an emperor or some type of ruler …
Read more “Cersei’s Realization: The Principal-Agent Problem in Imperial Governance”
Season 5 Episode 9: In this clip, Tyrion explains to Hizdahr zo Loraq why he doesn’t approve of the fighting pit. Hizdahr retorts: “What great thing has ever been accomplished without killing or cruelty?” Tyrion then informs Hizdahr of the error in reasoning he made. Tyrion is making a normative claim about the fighting pits. …
Season 5, Episode 4: Bronn describes his ideal death, where his kids grovel over his fortune. This highlights the importance of good estate planning.
Season 5, Episode 3: House Ramsey is threatened and has to determine the balance between conflicts and violence to achieve their means and entering into coalitions.
Season 5, Episode 2: A vote between three people to be commander of the Night’s Watch is occurring. When there are three or more choices, Kenneth Arrow showed in his impossibility theorem that all three of these cannot occur: * If every voter prefers alternative X over alternative Y, then the group prefers X over …