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Economic Theories explained by football

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Economics

The Theory of Creative Destruction

22 Jan 202122 Jan 2021
I'm sure deep down we all get a small amount of pleasure from destructing something. Whether that's the preciseness of a display in a shop, the virgin snow-covered field or…
Economics

Public Choice Theory

28 Nov 202011 Dec 2020
It's quite probable that when James M Buchanan Jnr created is Public Choice Theory he didn't expect to win a Nobel Prize. But that's what he did. He probably also…
Economics

The Kaldor-Hicks Theorm

28 Nov 202011 Dec 2020
It doesn't matter what the decision is, someone somewhere will be worse off.  It doesn't matter if it's a political decision, an economic decision or a referee's decision, there will…
Economics

The Paradox Of Choice

28 Nov 202011 Dec 2020
In 2004 American psychologist Barry Schwartz published his book called The Paradox of Choice – Why More is Less, where he argued that eliminating consumer choices was actually a good…
Economics

Giving Before Receiving

28 Nov 202010 Dec 2020
The term "fallen giant" seems to be one exclusively used by the Footballing world. The English professional game is littered with them.  Newcastle United, Portsmouth, Blackburn Rovers, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland,…
Economics

The Resource Curse

28 Nov 202010 Dec 2020
The resource curse, also known as the paradox of plenty, refers in footballing terms to the situation that exists at the highest level of the professional game where the clubs…
Economics

The Theory of Endogenous Growth

28 Nov 202010 Dec 2020
It’s been a long-held belief that growth of any business or economy is reliant on exogenous, or external, factors such as cash or government policy. Endogenous Growth theory holds that…
Economics

The Moral Hazard Theory

28 Nov 20209 Dec 2020
In the 2014 film The Big Short, the story behind the start of the Global Economic Crisis was explained. To many of us, the years between 2007 and 2010 saw…
Economics

Disruptive Influences

28 Nov 20209 Dec 2020
Back in 1997 DC United won the second ever MLS Cup, beating Colorado Rapids on home turf. At the same time of DC's domestic success, Harvard Business School professor Clayton…
Economics

The Doom Cycle

28 Nov 20209 Dec 2020
In the last few years I have written a number of articles trying to explain some common Economic Theories using football as a reference point.  Up until now they have…
Economics

The Theory Of Sabermetrics

28 Nov 20208 Dec 2020
For those who have seen the film Money Ball or read Michael Lewis's book of the same name, you will be familiar with the name Bill James. For those who…
Economics

Chaos Theory

28 Nov 20208 Dec 2020
Most economic theory is modelled on the laws of motion developed in the 17th century under the ideology that for every action there is an outcome.  The last domestic TV…
Economics

Return On Investment

28 Nov 20208 Dec 2020
Every couple of years the news of the bids for the Premier League TV rights is a headline story. The amounts that the Premier League have received for the collective…
Economics

The Theory Of Value

28 Nov 20207 Dec 2020
Back in 1261 whilst waiting for the medieval equivalent of Super Sunday to start, Italian philosopher and Doctor of the Church, Thomas Aquinas picked up his quill and started to…
Economics

The Theory Of Collective Insanity

28 Nov 20207 Dec 2020
In 1841 the Scottish journalist Charles Mackay published his most famous work - an essay that today is the piece of work that every football club should religiously read each…
Economics

Satisfaction Theory

28 Nov 20207 Dec 2020
Former Morecambe, Stockport County and Grimsby Town striker Phil Jevons may not appear to be much of a deep thinker but the Jevons family are famous for defining one of…
Economics

The Veblen Effect

28 Nov 20204 Dec 2020
Hands up who wants a Rolls-Royce? A convertible Bentley? An Aston Martin DBS?  Ok, apart from Danny Last and Big Deaks who can’t drive.  We would all love to own…
Economics

The Bandwagon Effect

26 Nov 20204 Dec 2020
“I was there when we were relegated against Middlesborough at The Bridge.”  It’s amazing how many Chelsea fans I meet who, when I claim were “Johhny-cum-lately’s” wheel out the fact…
Economics

Counting The Cost Of Counterfeiting

26 Nov 20204 Dec 2020
Back in 2012, it was reported that the major professional sports leagues in the United States lost more than $13 billion in revenue due to sales of counterfeit shirts and…
Economics

Value Propositions

26 Nov 20204 Dec 2020
Back in 2010, the concept of Non-League Day was announced by James Doe, a Harrow Borough fan. The not-for-profit and volunteer-run initiative was created to coincide with a break in…
Economics

Regression Theory

26 Nov 20203 Dec 2020
The 2020/21 Premier League season has been notable for the sheer unpredictable nature of results. Aston Villa, a team who stayed in the division on the last day of the…
Economics

Market certainty

26 Nov 20203 Dec 2020
The Market for Lemons was a controversial piece of research published by Nobel Prize-winning academic, George Akerlof in 1970 that focused on the used car market.  Up until his work…
Economics

Behavioural Economics

26 Nov 20203 Dec 2020
Trying to understand why your centre-forward chooses to shoot from a tight angle rather than squaring to a team mate in space, or why a club would choose to spend…
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