Descending Price Auction vs Dutch Auction vs Single Price Auction

My Fixed Income professor said that Single Price Auctions = Dutch Auction = How Gov’t issue T-Bills, whereas Schweser states that Descending Price Auction = Dutch Auction (page 10) and Single Price Auctions are what the Government uses to issue T-Bills.

Really confused … would appreciate if someone could clear this up. Thank you!

Does anyone know if Single Price = Dutch or Descending Price = Dutch? Just want a second opinion …

I would say that single price = modified Dutch auction, and that descending price = Dutch auction.

In a ‘normal’ Dutch auction, say for the pretty Dutch tulip flowers, an initial price is set that is slowly decreasing. Bidders can buy a specific amount of tulips for the price they’re willing to pay. Say a bidder has bought 10% of the lot at $500, the price will decrease further and subsequent bidders can buy more at lower prices. In a modified Dutch auction, the entire lot will be sold at the single price that allows the seller to get rid of all the tulips at once.