Andrew S. Zimbalist (born October 16, 1947) is an American economist and author of twenty-four books. He is the Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics at Smith College.

Biography

Zimbalist received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, in 1969 and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1972 and 1974 respectively. He has been in the Economics Department at Smith College since 1974. He has published several dozen articles and twenty-four books, including Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup. He did a biweekly commentary on the business of sports for National Public Radio's Marketplace between 2002 and 2005, and appears regularly with commentary on sports and public policy in the national media. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Sports Economics. He has consulted in Latin America for the United Nations Development Programme, the United States Agency for International Development and numerous companies, and he has consulted in the sports industry for players' associations, teams, cities, companies and leagues. He was one of the leading critics of the Boston 2024 Olympic bid, serving as an adviser to the "No Boston Olympics" activist group. In the mid-1990s Zimbalist was one of the co-founders of the United Baseball League (UBL) which was a planned third major league.

Family

Zimbalist's eldest sons, Jeff and Michael, are both filmmakers. He also has twin children named Alex and Ella Zimbalist. He lives with his family in Northampton, Massachusetts. He is a second cousin, once removed, of actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr.