Stefan Szymanski, author of PLAYBOOKS AND CHECKBOOKS: An Introduction to the Economics of Modern Sports writes a compelling article in England’s Telegraph discussing how the U.K. football leagues could learn a lesson from U.S. pro sports:

“Many fans are in denial, but the reality of professional sport is that money buys success: spend enough and the balance will tip in your favour. Of course, there are no guarantees, but year after year the teams that spend the most on player salaries tend to end up at the top of the league and those that spend the least end up at the bottom. This is not only true for football. The New York Yankees have won baseball’s World Series 26 times (the nearest rival has won it only 10 times) and no one doubts that the financial muscle of the Big Apple lies behind this feat.”

Read the entire article here.

In another realm of the online world, David M. Gordon, reviews the book on The Deipnosophist, remarking after including a quote from the book:

“And with that last quotation, you have the first glimmerings of what elevates this book above others — the economics of sport (and, I dare add, all economics) does not rise from a vacuum, but is of a piece with the prevailing social, spiritual, financial, and moral zeitgeist. Szymanski’s non-elaborated notion places his book with the best art history, for art also is a creature of its time.”

Read David Gordon’s review here.

On Thursday, November 27th from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM, The British Institute of International and Comparative Law will host a book launch and discussion on the subject of torture and democracy featuring authors Darius Rejali and Philippe Sands. Registration is required–hope you can join us for what will no doubt be a fascinating conversation.