If you've ever played the sports book or on-line betting, than you're familiar with the concept of sports "markets". Not so much the sports book as a true market where you buy and sell shares of expectations on who might win a particular sport. www.tradesports.com is one example of a robust, healthy market with lots of people and lots of trading.

All of these markets gain their legitimacy through the sheer number of trades going on for a particular event. The more people who trade, the more diverse interests, levels of research, and gut feelings that make their way into deciding the price. Its a neat concept.

In my spare time I'm a politics junkie, and ignoring completely the specifics of my own beliefs, one of the niftiest uses of these tools are in Election Markets. Rather than betting on the winner of a particular sporting event, in Election Markets you're betting on the winner of a particular election.

Two that I particularly like to keep an eye on are the Iowa Electronic Markets and Intrade. Though I've yet to drop any cash on them, I find them a neat thought experiment to see how the elections are proceeding. If this sort of silliness is up your alley, check them out for a jolly.

If anything, they make for a fun diversion from the grind of the typical administrator's work day...