BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2012-06-23 13:50
http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/economics/arbitrage-and-equilibrium-in-the-team-fortress-2-economy/
just going leave this here before going to sleep
reading it later
skimmed it and some parts are differences between analogue economy and digital economy
Rin wrote on 2012-06-24 21:33
Mostly explaining the concepts of arbitrage (buying low, selling high) and equilibrium (lack of arbitrage). In short, he simply states real life economy can never be in equilibrium, but will always have the tendency to gravitate towards it, no matter how great the state of arbitrage is.
He also explains that TF2's economy, as of now, is loaded with arbitrage opportunities.
Finally proceeds to figure out the relative values of 3 popular TF2 items: Earbuds, Bill's Hat, and Refined Metal (Purple). By then, he already has formed a few key equations that pertain to recent TF2 economic data, which he'll use to predict future TF2 economic data.