Recommended Economics Reading List

**rj1** · 28 Mar 08,, 05:27

Originally Posted by Shek

rj1,

Thanks, this blog is one of the three main sports econ blogs out there. There are actually about eight authors that contribute to it, which is why is has the biggest breadth of topics. The other two main ones are Sabernomics» Economic Thinking about Baseball, which focuses mostly on baseball, and the Wages of Wins Journal, which is mostly basketball-centric.

If you're looking for a site that has a lot of sports econ type stats, Rodney Fort's webpage is a good one to go to.

You strike me as the type of guy that would be a big Bill Simmons fan. Personally, I love his work.

**Shek** · 28 Mar 08,, 20:38

Originally Posted by rj1

You strike me as the type of guy that would be a big Bill Simmons fan. Personally, I love his work.

Never heard of him. However, I was a huge sports fan growing up, and then became too busy in college and afterwards to watch/read a whole bunch of sports except for the major sporting events. I'm going to teach a sports econ course next year spring semester, and so now I have an excuse to do some "research"

)

[wife]Stop watching the football game[/wife]

[me]Sorry, honey, but I'm doing some research for class[/me]

**2DREZQ** · 29 Mar 08,, 05:59

Before reading anything else:

BASIC ECONOMICS: A COMMONSENSE GUIDE TO THE ECONOMY
&
APPLIED ECONOMICS: THINKING BEYOND STAGE ONE
Both by Thomas Sowell

after that, you might want to try THE AGE OF TURBULENCE
by Alan Greenspan

It seems just a bit self-serving, but still, how can you pass up the insider view from this guy?

**Albany Rifles** · 31 Mar 08,, 15:42

Originally Posted by Shek

Never heard of him. However, I was a huge sports fan growing up, and then became too busy in college and afterwards to watch/read a whole bunch of sports except for the major sporting events. I'm going to teach a sports econ course next year spring semester, and so now I have an excuse to do some "research"

)

[wife]Stop watching the football game[/wife]

[me]Sorry, honey, but I'm doing some research for class[/me]

Shek

Bill Simmons is The Sports Guiy on ESPN.com Page 2...used to be The Boston Sports Guy.

And as for Moneyball...I've read it and at the end fo the day I ask myself 2 questions. 1. How many of those great prospects stay with the Oakland A's? Answer: Almost none...they can't afford them.

2. How many World Series or AL penants have the A's won since Billy Beane became their GM?

**Shek** · 31 Mar 08,, 15:58

Originally Posted by Albany Rifles

Shek

Bill Simmons is The Sports Guiy on ESPN.com Page 2...used to be The Boston Sports Guy.

And as for Moneyball...I've read it and at the end fo the day I ask myself 2 questions. 1. How many of those great prospects stay with the Oakland A's? Answer: Almost none...they can't afford them.

2. How many World Series or AL penants have the A's won since Billy Beane became their GM?

Buck,

1. With the limited reserve clause, you have the ability to get some mileage out of folks and then potentially gain some leverage through the ability to trade folks prior to when they can walk through free agency. The question to ask with regards to this is if the A's spent the same amount of money (remember, they are a small market and so they can't compete in terms of salary) without using their stat-heads, could they field teams that do as well consistently?

2. Doing well over 162 games vs. a five or seven game series is different. Think about a more extreme example - would you get upsets by #15 seeds in the NCAA tournament over a 3-game series? 5-game series? 20-game series? The more games, then the less chance of the weaker team winning. Of course, shorter series and the thrill of the upset/unknown is part of what attracts folks to sports.

What about if you have the money and stats? 60 Minutes did a piece on Bill James and the BoSox last night.

CBS News Video - Top Stories and Video News Clips at CBSNews.com
The Red Sox' Stat Man And The Numbers Game, Bill James Tells 60 Minutes Mets' David Wright Would Be A Top Pick On His Dream Team - CBS News

As an interesting aside, Beane has been going after high school players again: Newmark's Door:

I think the publishing of Moneyball was a strategic move to reduce the pressure on the price of high school prospects (you can see my comment to the post).

**Albany Rifles** · 31 Mar 08,, 16:29

Originally Posted by Shek

Buck,

1. With the limited reserve clause, you have the ability to get some mileage out of folks and then potentially gain some leverage through the ability to trade folks prior to when they can walk through free agency. The question to ask with regards to this is if the A's spent the same amount of money (remember, they are a small market and so they can't compete in terms of salary) without using their stat-heads, could they field teams that do as well consistently?

2. Doing well over 162 games vs. a five or seven game series is different. Think about a more extreme example - would you get upsets by #15 seeds in the NCAA tournament over a 3-game series? 5-game series? 20-game series? The more games, then the less chance of the weaker team winning. Of course, shorter series and the thrill of the upset/unknown is part of what attracts folks to sports.

What about if you have the money and stats? 60 Minutes did a piece on Bill James and the BoSox last night.

CBS News Video - Top Stories and Video News Clips at CBSNews.com
The Red Sox' Stat Man And The Numbers Game, Bill James Tells 60 Minutes Mets' David Wright Would Be A Top Pick On His Dream Team - CBS News

As an interesting aside, Beane has been going after high school players again: Newmark's Door:

I think the publishing of Moneyball was a strategic move to reduce the pressure on the price of high school prospects (you can see my comment to the post).

I isee your point about the Moneyball.

I guess I didn't express my point well which was supported by the 60 MInutes piece...namely, evaluation of talent these days is meaningless if you don't have the money to keep them.

The have had money but, unitl recently, not like the Yankees (spit, spit). To try to overcome that the old Sox ownership and GM raided and sold out the farm system.

New ownership comes in and changes 2 things.

1. They understand to make money you have to spend money.

2. To survive you buy free agents; to thrive you build a strong farm system.

The smartest thing John Henry and company did was hire Theo Epstein...and then they bankrolled him. They also fixed up Fenway...this helped draw the fans. (Sidenote: When Henry bought the team, the Red Sox were the only team in MLB which owned their own ballpark...which meant they had to pay taxes and pay for upkeep)

Epstein made some great personnel decisions (see trading Garciaparra; Ortiz, Beckett and that Schilling Guy) and a few bad ones. (Edgar Rentaria comes to mind). But having that shiny trophy bought him the time to really build the team. And winning the 2004 World Series is allowing the Red Sox to print money on Yawkey Way!

This allowed Epstein and CO to draft smart and not give a way the farm on Johann Santanna and others. The young guns (Youk, Lester, Bucholz, Ellesbury, Papelbon) all will have long careers...and probably will stay with Boston.

Moneyball made the A's competititve but it did not make them Champions. The Sox had to find a way compete with New York...and they did. And with that came the money to build.

And as for closers not being worth it?

I give you OCT 2003 and Aaron "bleeping" Boone v Tim Wakefield versus 2004 and Ketih "That's All" Foulke...and that Papelbon kid sure can dance!

**cyppok** · 23 Aug 09,, 20:56

Literature :: Mises Institute

free stuff galore

**Aussiegunner** · 27 Jan 10,, 13:33

I've finally gotten around to reading "Wealth of Nations" and my impression from the first couple of chapters is that everything else ever written just reiterates this classic or else is wrong. Adam Smith had to be one of the most brilliant minds ever.

**~~SMJ~~** · 02 Mar 10,, 02:50

Originally Posted by cyppok

Literature :: Mises Institute

free stuff galore

Read books of:

Ludwig Von Mises
Murray N. Rothbard.
F.A. Hayek
Henry Hazlitt
Peter Schiff
Thomas Woods
Ron Paul
Carl Menger
Frédéric Bastiat

To understand true free market economics.

**editec** · 29 May 11,, 14:51

I've recently read Krugman's book on the economic meltdown, The GREAT UNRAVELING and am currently reading Stiglett's book FREEFALL which is also germane to that event.

Basically they are saying much the same thing....the economic meltdown is a conbination of poorly designed (or nearly totally absent) regulations, suspiciously bad RISK assessments, outright fraud, and Animal Spirits making the herd sometimes overly optomistic and, once the feces hits the fan, stampeding for the exits.

Stiglett's tome is, I think, somewhat better as it offers suggestions for how we might correct the problems we face.

**editec** · 29 May 11,, 14:55

SMJ,

What book would you recommend to begin a close reading of the thoughts of Von Mises?

**editec** · 04 Oct 11,, 11:07

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists

Basically this informs us that we are not really capable of interpreting and acting upon statistical data.

I suspect after all the recent bubbles in the market most of us already suspect that is true, but this book is certainly worthy of your time.

**qnextt** · 12 Mar 12,, 11:39

101 Things Everyone Should Know About Economics: A Down and Dirty Guide to Everything from Securities and Derivatives to Interest Rates and Hedge Funds - And What They Mean For You
Amazon.com: 101 Things Everyone Should Know About Economics: A Down and Dirty Guide to Everything from Securities and Derivatives to Interest Rates and Hedge Funds - And What They Mean For You (9781440503504): Peter Sander: Books

**DOR** · 13 Mar 12,, 02:09

“Minimum Wages, by David Neumark and William L. Wascher, The MIT Press, 2008.

And, some on Hong Kong—

“Public Sector Reform in Hong Kong: Into the 21st Century,” by Anthony B.L. Cheung and Jane C.Y. Lee (eds), The Chinese University Press (2001).

“Uneasy Partners: The Conflict Between Public Interest and Private Profit in Hong Kong,” by Leo F. Goodstadt, Hong Kong University Press (2005).

“Profits, Politics and Panics: Hong Kong’s Banks and the Making of a Miracle Economy, 1935-1985, by Leo F. Goodstadt, Hong Kong University Press (2007).