unfinished business

Oct. 27, 2011 at 12:32pm with 105 notes

Reblogged from fuckyeanba

NBA.com opened up discussions with famed University of Chicago Economics Professor Kevin Murphy. If you’re unfamiliar with Murphy or the University of Chicago Economics program (think of Thorstein Veblen, a Worldly Philosopher and coiner of the term “conspicuous consumption”), here’s some quick biographical info on the man:

Never mind the card-carrying variety — Murphy, working with the NBA players union during this lockout, is a check-cashing genius. That’s the very best kind, as bestowed by the MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” — $500,000, no strings attached — he received in 2005 for his research on “seeming intractable economic questions.” Back in 1997, he received the John Bates Clark medal awarded to the most promising economist under the age of 40.

He is a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, he’s been commuting to the labor talks in New York and, with all due respect to NBA commissioner David Stern, union director Billy Hunter and the others hashing out the league’s finances and future, he truly might be the smartest guy in the room.

“Kevin is far and away the smartest guy in the field,” Freakonomics author and Chicago colleague Steven Levitt said in a 2006 profile of Murphy. “Not only is he widely regarded as the smartest economist on Earth, but he can also fix your refrigerator.”

Murphy was at the negotiating table for yesterday’s 15 hour session, and he’ll be back there today (they started at 2 PM EST). His confidence lends us all some well-deserved optimism after Thursday’s BRI blowup.

“I was very pessimistic last week after the Thursday blow-up but I’m beginning to come around and think we’ve got a shot,” Murphy said. “If there’s a deal here, it’s going to be a deal that nobody likes. That’s what deals are. Nobody walks out feeling like they got a complete victory. That’s initially. But then you get back to playing and you realize, geez, I can live with this.”

Check out NBA.com’s Full Q & A with Murphy, who they describe as the “superstar of supply and demand.” I’ll try and post some more information from the interview once I get through the whole thing.

The above full q & a is a fantastic and enlightening article, and makes me fully understand why I support the players in this lockout much more than I do the owners. By now most of us are just hoping we’ll get to see some basketball at all this year. This guy is obviously exponentially smart, and if you’re at all interested in the finer points of the labor talks that might possibly end up costing us a full season, you best get your mouse-a-clickin’ and read what he has to say.