Examining the Economics Driven By Behavioral Choices

Rating: 9/10 (21 January 2019)

Imagine an employment system that is solely relied on a computer-generated analysis system. "Moneyball", directed by the famous actor, Brad Pitt, is a movie that discovers a unique economic theory based on baseball players' competency. The film, synthesized with actors, intricate scenes, and humor definitely make it worth watching (possibly several times), especially knowing the fact that the movie was drafted from a book based on a true story.
The Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane is faced with a conflict: after the top three baseball players on the Oakland A's leave, he must form a new group of people that can substitute their professionalism. The tight budget of the team leaves Beane with no choice but to come up with a solution to work around the finance issue, hence the creation of the Moneyball thesis: a statistical analysis that allows small-market teams to compete by buying assets that are undervalued by other teams and selling the ones that are overvalued by the other teams.
What impacts can we see today after the creation of the Moneyball theory? The foremost point is that this economic theory formed by has created major political changes. According to Vice Sports, the book (Moneyball) revolutionized baseball, and eventually, every team in the majors adopted some or all of the concepts outlined by Michael Lewis (the author of the book). By the end of the decade, the term "Moneyball" was used to describe a statistical based approach (the economic view) in almost all of sports.
Some people criticize about the central misconception about it. For example, ESPNs Matt Bryant explains that, "The Moneyball concept, recognizing the most valuable but least expensive commodities in player evaluation, was immediately transformed in public perception into an obsession with on-base percentage. Therefore, a team that values on-base percentage is considered to espouse "Moneyball principles", even though, as Beane points out, players with high on-base percentages have become extremely expensive."
Despite the criticisms about the misconception of what the Moneyball theory has brought, If not for the low finance condition laid upon Billy Beane, the creation of such widely pronounced theory would have not been constructed.