Word: wager
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...were invented, the U.S. press tracked the ups and downs of a huge political-betting market centered on Wall Street. According to University of North Carolina economist Paul Rhode, bettors were remarkably prescient: in 12 presidential elections between 1896 and 1940, the underdog won only once. Today Americans can "wager" on elections online through the Iowa Electronic Markets, a small-scale futures exchange that lets people buy contracts on candidates based on their estimated chance of victory. (At press time, George W. Bush led John Kerry 54% to 46%.) Since its 1988 launch, the I.E.M. has outpredicted election-eve polls...
...Black ambles around Betfair's offices in shorts and a fleece. In his spare time, he still likes to gamble. The next wager he'll need to make is when to take Betfair public, something he insists won't happen for at least 18 months. "We've got to knock the company into shape," Black says. "We want to get the timing right." It's the biggest bet of all, and not something even a seasoned gambler would take lightly. --By Jennie James/London...
DIED. WALTER WAGER, 79, prolific spy novelist, whose books often featured villains bent on apocalyptic destruction and were turned into such movies as Die Hard 2 and Telefon; of brain cancer; in New York City...
...could be drawn out and organized via a marketplace. Says George Mason's Hanson, who helped design the market: "People noticed." Another predictive market, the Iowa Electronic Markets at the University of Iowa, has been around since 1988. That bourse has accepted up to $500 from anyone wanting to wager on election results. Players buy and sell outcomes: Is Kerry a win or Bush a shoo-in? This is the same information that news organizations and pollsters chase in the run-up to election night. Yet Iowa outperforms them 75% of the time...
...GETTING CRITICIZED FOR COMPARING THE PRISON ABUSE IN IRAQ WITH A COLLEGE PRANK. WERE YOU MISINTERPRETED? I was totally misinterpreted and taken out of context. In a three-hour show, I would wager that two hours and 58 minutes were spent discussing the aspects of those photos that repulsed everybody, including me. The point I made was that this is not worth demeaning our entire war effort. And I think that these photos have been used as a political opportunity here by opponents and enemies of the President to discount the entire war in Iraq...