I used to spend a good deal of time playing World of Warcraft, once considered writing an economics text based on it. I quit quite a long time ago, am unlikely to return unless I run out of other things to do with my time, but I continue to mine it for ideas. You are teaching economics at a large university and want a new way of getting the interest of your students. It occurs to you that a substantial fraction probably play World of Warcraft. It also occurs to you, since you too play WoW, that the game contains a complex economy that poses all sorts of interesting questions for an economist. You announce a new course ' WoW economics ' and get a gratifyingly large enrollment. Now what' WoW has markets and prices, including an auction house with many buyers, many sellers, and a wide range of products for sale. Prices are readily observed: starting prices, buyout prices, relative prices at one time, changes over time. Actual sales prices are a bit harder, but if your students are...
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