A Silent Auction

- This is a **silent auction for a rare 1938 lecture script** by the economist James Mirrlees (1936–2018), a Nobel laureate (1996) known for his work on mechanism design, optimal taxation, and the theory of public economics. - The auction is run by **Nuffield College, Oxford**, where Mirrlees spent much of his career; bids must be submitted privately via a specific form by 31 March 2025. - The item: a handwritten and typed lecture titled *The Optimum Town* — an early, unpublished work exploring how economic theory could be applied to urban planning and public utilities. Mirrlees later won the Nobel for "the basic principles of incentive-compatible taxation," ideas that grew from this kind of foundational thinking. - Why it matters: This is both a collector's item for history-of-economics enthusiasts and a window into the development of ideas that shaped modern public policy (e.g., how to design taxes, subsidies, and pricing for public goods like transport or utilities).