Prospect online this week

In addition to all the goodies from the November 2007 print edition of the magazine, this week Prospect online features Ken Binmore—who designed the 3G telecoms licence auction that raked in £23bn for the British taxpayer in 2000—on “mechanism design,” the theory that won three of its main architects the Nobel economics prize a couple of weeks ago. Mechanism design, argues Binmore, contains important lessons for governments looking to reform public services and regulatory regimes.

Also this week: Willem Marx, who travelled with Benazir Bhutto on her triumphant homecoming from Dubai, explains how the jubilant on-flight atmosphere turned into shock…