Game theory

The London press remains obsessed with Nicola.  CityAM believes in a conspiracy theory:

,,, there are differences between Scotland and Greece. The Scots, for example, have shown themselves to be much more adept practitioners of the esoteric discipline of game theory. Yanis Varoufakis, former academic turned Greek finance minister, specialised in the subject. A sound knowledge of game theory can often be very useful. Chris Ferguson, for example, winner of no fewer than five World Series of Poker championships, teaches game theory at UCLA. The deluded Greek Trotskyist, however, seems to have convinced himself that his theoretical knowledge would give him a decisive advantage in the negotiations with the Troika of the IMF, the ECB and the European Commission. But he seems to have forgotten that the purpose of playing a game is to win.

...

Nicola Sturgeon and David Cameron have manoeuvred themselves into a lucrative strategy of co-operation. The game began during the election campaign. The SNP needed to destroy Labour in Scotland. They trumpeted their intention to help Ed Miliband get into Downing Street. The Conservatives seized on this and used the SNP bogeyman to frighten the voters in marginal seats in England.

The game goes on. Cameron needs to make some concessions to Sturgeon so she can boast about them to the Scottish electorate. But the SNP also needs to maintain a set of grievances, which is the party’s raison d’etre. Neither side actually wants to redress them, so that both continue to gain and keep Labour out. Practical politicians are often much better game players than so-called expert theorists.

Rather fanciful, I would suggest ...