Professional Development Seminar: Market Making for the 21st Century

Market Making for the 21^st Century

Economics, economies, economic policy debates and initiatives are undergoing substantive change. It is by no means an exaggeration to say that we have reached a new junction.

Over the last 15 years, we have seen the emergence of intermediation giants like iTunes/Apple, Amazon, eBay, Google, Netflix, or Spotify. Much like the fictitious Walrasian auctioneer of the economics textbook, these private companies bring together supply and demand and enable buyers and sellers to trade with each other. Unlike the Walrasian auctioneer, however, these private market makers are profit-seeking and highly profitable firms.

In this talk, Professor Loertscher summarizes recent theoretical and policy developments and canvasses what next big things lie ahead.

 About our Speaker

Simon Loertscher received his Doctorate from the University of Bern in 2004. He is one of Australia’s foremost experts in industrial organization. His current research focuses on market and mechanism design and on political economics. He is the Director of the Centre for Market Design at the University of Melbourne. Before joining the Economics Department of the University of Melbourne in 2007, he was at Columbia University and the University of Bern.