Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 22, 1994 TAG: 9402240016
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A new gambling game that could have the side effects of increasing voter turnout for elections and public interest in the political process. What a deal!
Such a game has been set up by two economics professors - Charles Holt at the University of Virginia and Douglas Davis at Virginia Commonwealth University. It's called the Electronic Political Stock Market, and anybody with access to Internet or a modem - and five bucks as the entry fee - can play.
Players place bets on this year's U.S. Senate race in Virginia by buying "shares" in the candidates, based on their views of the likely winner. At any point up to 11:59 p.m. on Election Eve, Nov. 7, investors can trade their securities. (And, of course, they can spread their holdings - a practice known as hedging.) Once the election results are in, the entire pot will be distributed to those holding the winner's shares.
The game - nonprofit for the profs, incidentally - has been open for only three weeks. As of the latest postings, Oliver North is selling for 64 cents per share, compared to 35 cents per share for Jim Miller in the Republican nomination market.
In the general-election market, incumbent Democrat Charles Robb is going for 49 cents per share, compared to 33 cents for North and 13 cents for Miller. We're not sure what to make of this, but it doesn't look like players feel bullish about any of these three yet.
Doubtless, Virginia's political professors and pundits will be relieved to know that Holt and Davis, authors of the textbook, "Experimental Economics," are not trying to move onto their turf. The Electronic Political Stock Market, patterned on those conducted for many years by the University of Iowa, is principally a device for teaching economics in a lively way. Economics classes at Virginia Tech and George Mason University, as well as those at UVa and VCU, will be game participants, gaining presumably a better understanding of how markets operate.
The students, and others who sign up via computers to play, may also learn about the political process. Unfortunately, protecting investments may require more attention to polls than to issues, already an obvious defect of the process. Indeed, the political stock market may prove a fairly reliable poll. Markets always have been a superior mechanism for indicating people's choices.
At the very least, the experiment may introduce some new metaphors into political chitchat and coverage. Horseracing, baseball, football and war need a rest. The lingo of Wall Street could be a refreshing change. Come to think of it, doesn't this Senate race resemble a Bonfire of the Vanities?
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB