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The Game Theory behind Brexit

https://theconversation.com/brexit-brinkmanship-a-game-theory-expert-on-where-jeremy-corybn-and-theresa-may-go-from-here-110070

We often hear about how politicians play “games” with one another, but never has this been more clear in Great Britain with Brexit. In the early part of 2019, Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition party, and Theresa May, the prime minister, were locked in a tight battle for political control.

We first establish the situation. Theresa wanted to deliver on her promises for a Brexit deal, while Corbyn was after the prime minister seat. Corbyn’s goal was to force another vote of no confidence on Theresa and initiate a general election which would be advantageous to him at that point. To achieve this aim, Corbyn has used the strategy of refusing to meet with Theresa on the grounds she should withdraw any possibility of a no-brexit deal.

At this point in the game, Theresa could choose from a variety of strategies. If she withdraws any possibility of a no-brexit deal to appease Corbyn, she might have a better chance of a Brexit deal but lose the support of members of her party — setting the stage for a no-confidence vote and subsequent general election advantageous to Corbyn. On the other hand, she must find a strategy which compromises with Corbyn’s party without upsetting her own party.

We have a situation where Corbyn’s strategy of refusing to compromise without a rejection of any and all no-brexit deals to be the strictly dominant strategy. Thus, we have a game with two actors, Corbyn and Theresa, who are both aware of each other strategies, and are trying to play the game to maximize their personal payoffs.

This is exactly the kind of Game Theory scenario we have learned about in class, and it is fascinating to see how the theory actually applies to real world scenarios. While there are far more factors at play, the fundamental idea of two opposing parties making decisions selfishly with full awareness of each others competing interests is clearly outlined here. The article does a great job of summarizing key strategies both sides could make and succinctly summarizing payoffs to both sides.

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