The problem with this formula is that I can just go claim Manhattan, and bid any amount under the approximate value of the real estate -- either I get the island at a discount, or I get a huge sum of cash.For this to work, you probably need some kind of way to measure how legitimate a claim is, so you can tell when claimants are just trying to extort money. And if you've solved that problem, you don't need to do auctions -- you've solved the original problem. |