Re:Markets are competitive if and only if P = NP
by Dibby053 on Friday July 03, 2026 @12:15PM
(#48776733)
So markets can only be (perfectly) efficient or competitive, not both at the same time. Largely theoretical but it tracks common sense!
Re:Markets are competitive if and only if P = NP
by ffsm8 on Friday July 03, 2026 @12:26PM
(#48776843)
The title on this HN submission is just wrong. Click on the link and find out.
Re:Markets are competitive if and only if P = NP
by seizethecheese on Friday July 03, 2026 @01:24PM
(#48777472)
The title is wrong but you’re also wrong. Read the abstract of the paper. Here’s the relevant section:
> Combined with Maymin (2011), who proved that market efficiency requires P = NP, this yields a fundamental impossibility: markets can be informationally efficient or competitive, but not both.
Re:Markets are competitive if and only if P = NP
by abejfehr on Friday July 03, 2026 @12:35PM
(#48776940)
isn't that what they're saying with "not both at the same time"? the papers both have opposite signs, one has != and the other has =
Re:Markets are competitive if and only if P = NP
by ffsm8 on Friday July 03, 2026 @02:21PM
(#48778148)
Without the braces around the perfectly I would have understood it... yeah, I think I was misinterpreting what he meant to say
Re:Markets are competitive if and only if P = NP
by p-e-w on Friday July 03, 2026 @12:06PM
(#48776647)
Assuming the original result is correct, isn’t the linked paper simply a corollary?
Re:Markets are competitive if and only if P = NP
by philipwhiuk on Friday July 03, 2026 @12:37PM
(#48776965)
The newer paper expands on the work of the former.
Re:Markets are competitive if and only if P = NP
by dheera on Friday July 03, 2026 @01:09PM
(#48777307)
In a P=NP world, it still takes only one uninformed participant to make the market inefficient. I don't think the implication is bidirectionally true unless you assume every single player is rational, infinitely smart, and has access to the same set of information.
Markets are efficient if and only if P = NP https://arxiv.org/abs/1002.2284
:)