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Vacation Reading
Vacation reading for me is work for 99% of the population.
The Wages of Wins, by Berri, Schmidt, and Brook
Profiles in Courage, by John F. Kennedy
The Undercover Economist, by Tim Harford (Econ 1 for non-academics)
Capitalism & Freedom, by Milton Friedman. Rest in peace.
Wages of Wins was particularly eye-opening. Three economists took a look at what determined player pay in the NBA, and figured out that salary was mainly based on player pay, not any measure of efficiency or how much that player contributed to team wins. Essentially, there's a lot more to the game than simply scoring points - if you score 50 points but take 70 shots and turn the ball over 20 times, you are not helping your team. The economists took a look at the NBA and figured out a formula for how many wins each player on a team produced. It was a really interesting book. Basically the NBA is due for a Money-ball like revolution, but it hasn't happened yet.
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