Andrew S. Zimbalist (born October 16, 1947) is an American

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and author of twenty-four books. He is the Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

Biography

Zimbalist received his B.A. from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, in 1969 and his M.A. and Ph.D. from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1972 and 1974 respectively. He has been in the Economics Department at

since 1974. He has published several dozen articles and twenty-four books, including ''Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup''. He did a biweekly commentary on the business of sports for

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

's Marketplace between 2002 and 2005, and appears regularly with commentary on sports and public policy in the national media. He is a member of the editorial board of the ''

Journal of Sports Economics The ''Journal of Sports Economics'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by SAGE Publications in association with the North American Association of Sports Economists covering the economics of sports. It was established by economist Leo "Ha ...

''. He has consulted in Latin America for the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

, the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 1961 and reorganized in 1998 ...

and numerous companies, and he has consulted in the sports industry for players' associations, teams, cities, companies and leagues. He was one of the leading critics of the Boston 2024 Olympic bid, serving as an adviser to the "

No Boston Olympics The Boston 2024 Partnership was a short-lived, privately funded Bids for Olympic Games, bid to bring the 2024 Summer Olympics to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. The official proposal was submitted on September 12, 2014. On January 8, 2015, th ...

" activist group. In the mid-1990s Zimbalist was one of the co-founders of the

United Baseball League United League Baseball was an independent baseball league that operated in Texas. The league operated from 2006 to 2009. The league then temporarily merged with the Northern League and the Golden Baseball League to form the North American Leag ...

(UBL) which was a planned third major league.

Family

Zimbalist's eldest sons,

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and

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

, are both filmmakers. He also has twin children named Alex and Ella Zimbalist. He lives with his family in

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence, Massachusetts, Florence and ...

. He is a second cousin, once removed, of actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr."Stadium proposal ‘not outlandish,’ expert says" by Katherine Gregg. ''Providence Journal'', May 8, 2015
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Bibliography

* ''Comparing Economic Systems'' (1989) * ''The Cuban Economy: Measurement and Analysis of Socialist Performance'' (1989) * ''Panama at the Crossroads'' (1991) * ''Baseball and Billions'' (1992) * ''Sports, Jobs and Taxes'' (1997) * ''Unpaid Professionals: Commercialism and Conflict in Big-time College Sports'' (1999) * ''The Economics of Sport, I & II'' (2001) * ''May the Best Team Win: Baseball Economics and Public Policy'' (2003) * ''National Pastime: How Americans Play Baseball and the Rest of the World Plays Soccer'' (2005) * ''In the Best Interests of Baseball? The Revolutionary Reign of

Bud Selig Allan Huber "Bud" Selig (; born July 30, 1934) is an American baseball executive who currently serves as the commissioner emeritus of baseball. Previously, he served as the ninth commissioner of baseball from 1998 to 2015. He initially served a ...

'' (2006) * ''The Bottom Line: Observations and Arguments in the Sports Business'' (2007) * ''Equal Play: Title IX and Social Change'' (2008) * ''Circling the Bases: Essays on the Challenges and Prospects of the Sports Business'' (2010) * An updated and expanded edition of his ''In the Best Interests of Baseball? Governing Our National Pastime'' (2013) * ''The Sabermetric Revolution: Assessing the Growth of Analytics in Baseball'' (2014) * ''Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup'' (2015) * ''Unwinding Madness: What Went Wrong with College Sports and How to Fix It'' (2017) * ''No Boston Olympics: How and Why Smart Cities Are Passing on the Torch'' (2017)

References

External links

Zimbalist's faculty page at Smith College

Zimbalist's personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zimbalist, Andrew 21st-century American economists University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Harvard University alumni Smith College faculty People from Northampton, Massachusetts 1947 births Living people

Biography

Family

Bibliography

References

Further reading

External links