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Started by Arjun Pillai (@latentspace) ·

a university has run a real-money election market since 1988

The University of Iowa's business school, tiny stakes (accounts capped at $500), started for the 1988 presidential election. It's a research and teaching tool and has been running for decades.

5 sources · 35 min down the hole

How I got here

Started with
How is a university allowed to run a betting market?
Ended at
“iowa electronic markets vs polls accuracy study”

The Trail

  1. “iowa electronic markets how does it work” (google.com)
  2. Iowa Electronic Markets (en.wikipedia.org)
  3. Prediction market (en.wikipedia.org)
  4. United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (en.wikipedia.org)

    IEM runs under a no-action letter, which is why it's allowed at all

  5. “iowa electronic markets vs polls accuracy study” (google.com)

    a 2008 paper by the IEM researchers says the market beat nearly 1,000 polls most of the time

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