Lawrence M. Ausubel, University of Maryland economics professor and founder of Power Auctions, explains why auction economics plays a critical role in modern markets and public policy. He takes listeners inside the design of complex, computer-based auctions used for U.S. Treasury securities, Google keyword advertising, electricity markets, and high-stakes simultaneous spectrum license auctions for agencies such as the FCC, where bidders must secure complementary licenses at efficient geographic scale.

Professor Ausubel also shares behind-the-scenes insights from record-breaking auctions, including the $81 billion U.S. spectrum auction in 2022, and discusses his work designing diamond auctions for Botswana’s government-owned Okavango Diamond Company. Along the way, he explores reserve prices, bidder defaults, dispute resolution through software audit logs, the role of game theory in market design, the disruption of 9/11 during his first auction, and how AI could fundamentally reshape sponsored search and digital advertising.

STORY

00:00 Soundcheck

00:24 Introduction

02:29 Studying the Economics of Auctions

04:54 Scale and Simultaneous Bidding

06:16 Who Bids and How Big

09:18 How Larry Got Into Auctions

11:00 Diamonds and Botswana

15:40 Auction Goals and Pricing

18:06 When Auctions Go Wrong

22:18 Career Path and Legal Side

24:41 Game Theory and Disputes

31:38 Market Design Careers

33:34 Closing

BIOGRAPHY

Lawrence M. Ausubel is Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at the University of Maryland. Professor Ausubel is regarded as a leading expert on auction theory and market design. He has also published widely on bargaining, industrial organization, financial markets and the credit card market. He is the author of a number of highly-cited academic articles on efficient auction design, one of which proposes a format that has become known as the “Ausubel auction”. He has been awarded 23+ U.S. patents relating to auction technology and he has several other patents pending.

He has also testified before the U.S. Congress and the National Bankruptcy Review Commission as an expert on credit card and bankruptcy issues, and in court as a leading expert on the economics of the credit card market. Professor Ausubel received his A.B. in Mathematics from Princeton University, his M.S. in Mathematics from Stanford University, his M.L.S. in Legal Studies from Stanford Law School, and his Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University.

Professor Ausubel is also founder and chairman of Power Auctions LLC, a leading international provider of software and design services for high-stakes auctions. Power Auctions was founded in 2003 as a provider of auction design, auction software, auction management services, auction strategy and intellectual property, all under one roof. It has an unparalleled track record in the design and implementation of over 250 high-stakes auctions across six continents and in advising bidders in many other high-stakes auctions.

LINKS

Website: https://ausubel.com