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Behaviorial Economics Works Even When Wearing a Helmet

Here's one of the many things I don't get about contemporary sports journalism and thought in general.

We live in a society where money is considered a far more taboo subject of conversation among acquaintances than mere sex. A group of guys drinking in any downtown saloon last night would more likely than not mention some element of their sex lives, but would reveal their annual salaries to one another only under torture. Even then, they'd lie.

People don't talk about their income, their investments, or especially negotiations over purchases in specific dollar terms. They just don't, not most of us. It's a deep rooted social thing . When we hear someone say, "I'm making X" or "Yeah, I paid Y for the house in 2002, and now it's worth Z" we think two things. 1. What a liar! 2. What an a$^$hole!

This is such a commonplace of human behavior we hardly notice it unless someone DOES break the taboo. That's for sums of thousands of dollars. Tom Brady and Bob Kraft, as we all know, are currently negotiating terms of employment for Brady where the numbers involve many tens of millions of dollars.

And yet, when Brady and Kraft are vague and equivocal in their public comments on their dickering, many commentators and fans rush to read deep and inevitably dark meanings into their non-declarative statements. It is assumed that player and owner have something to hide, some deep and horrible secret. What that might be, I dunno. Brady's ultimate professional ambition to be the man who returns the Cleveland Browns to glory? Kraft's master plan to convert Gillette Stadium into an even BIGGER shopping mall rather than an unproductive football stadium?

People are reluctant to talk about their personal finances. Smart people know better than to make declarative statements they can't walk back during negotiations of any kind. These are facts, but they sure ain't news. Why pretend they are?

It would be a far, far better sports world if the following rule was installed. Fans or media wishing to opine on uncompleted sports business deals should be required to state THEIR personal financial information up front. "I'm Joe Blow, I make this much money blatting into the radio 20 hours a week and HERE'S why Brady should/shouldn't get $17 million a year."

It would offer us a valuable perspective on the debate. Best of all, it would shorten said debate.

posted by Michael Gee @ 7:25 AM