Author Bio & Stories

Tom Souhlas

Tom Souhlas is an economist with ECONorthwest where he specializes in environmental policy and economics. He has an MSc in Environment and Development from London School of Economics and a B.A. in Environmental Studies & Economics from Washington University, St. Louis.

  • November 21, 2012
    Maps on Maps on Maps: A Geographic Survey of the NBA | Winner and Losers — The Clog

    In our final installment, we look at the winners and losers of player movement, and what can be done to make the process more efficient. Also, we give you our secret for rearing a professional basketball player, because we're friends. 

  • November 20, 2012
    Maps on Maps on Maps: A Geographic Survey of the NBA | A Study Abroad — The Clog

    In our penultimate survey on the origins of NBA players, we follow Jimmy Dolan (Kevin Bacon's Jimmy Dolan NOT JD and The Straight Shot's Jimmy Dolan) on a trip abroad, looking at where international players come from, how much they make, and why, for crissakes, are they so darn tall!

  • November 15, 2012
    Maps on Maps on Maps: A Geographic Survey of the NBA | Blue Chippers — The Clog

    In this installment, we’ll look at which schools do the best job of getting the best players. We're on a nationwide campus tour with the 404 current NBA players that actually went to college in the U.S. and the 126 colleges they went to.

  • November 14, 2012
    Maps on Maps on Maps: A Geographic Survey of the NBA | The Towns, They Are a-Changin' — The Clog

    You may not have noticed -- as you are likely not 80 years old -- but basketball, like the rest of the country, has slowly moved west over the past 50 years. And it's not just the West that's producing more players, as the football producing states of the South now seem to be exporting more cagers than ever before. What does this all mean and where does it all end? We're sure we'll figure it out. 

  • November 13, 2012
    Maps on Maps on Maps: A Geographic Survey of the NBA | Hometown Heroes — The Clog

    Like college football players and cowboys, basketball players have a tendency to come from very specific places at very high rates for reasons that go beyond demographics. In this installment of Maps on Maps on Maps, we'll look at most of the wheres and some of the whys of player development in the United States. 

  • November 12, 2012
    Maps on Maps on Maps: A Geographic Survey of the NBA — The Clog

    It may be uncomfortable to think about, but professional basketball players -- like any entertainers -- are essentially commodities; shipped from here to there like very tall stalks of televised corn for us to watch. But comparative advantage has taught us that sometimes, some places are just better than others at making certain products and basketball is no different. Over the few days, we'll look at where basketball players come from and where they go from there. 

  • September 27, 2012
    It's Morning in America: An Economist Explains the End of the NFL Referee Lockout

    Despite their attempts to make a "principled stand", the NFL owners finally succumbed to the demands of the referees.  That's because, although the out-of-pocket expenses were minimal, the hidden costs were much higher. How much higher will surprise you.