Andrew Zimbalist

USA

Role

Chairperson and Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics

Organization

Smith College

Andrew Zimbalist has worked in the Economics Department at Smith College since 1974, and has been a visiting professor at Doshisha University, the University of Geneva and Hamburg University.

Zimbalist has consulted in Latin America for the United Nations Development Programme, the US Agency for International Development and numerous companies; and in the sports industry for players' associations, cities, companies, teams and leagues.

He has published several dozen articles and 27 books, including 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), In the Best Interests of Baseball? The Revolutionary Reign of Bud Selig (2006), The International Handbook on the Economics of Mega-Sport Events (2012), 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 (February 2017), No Boston Olympics: How and Why Smart Cities Are Passing on the Torch (April 2017) and Rio 2016: Olympic Myths and Hard Realities (August 2017).

The speakers

Using the unique power of sport to bring people together, the Olympism in Action Forum saw a range of global players, including Olympic Movement stakeholders, athletes, private and public sector leaders, NGO representatives, academics, artists and the media come together to talk on topical contemporary issues. Chosen because of their ability to effect change and their wide range of sometimes differing opinions, the speakers led lively debates and seeked to challenge received wisdom to inspire new ways of thinking.