Economic Theories explained by football

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

“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…

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…

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…

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…