Crisis in Bethlehem or Wages of Wins

Crisis in Bethlehem: Big Steel's Battle to Survive

Author: John Strohmeyer

Pulitzer Prize winner John Strohmeyer’s account of the collapse of Bethlehem Steel. As editor of the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Globe-Times from 1956 to 1984, Strohmeyer followed the steel industry from the height of its power through its decline. He evaluates the self-indulgence of both the unions and industry management and movingly describes the human agony caused by the failure of steel. His account is reinforced by over one hundred interviews with steelworkers, union leaders, steel executives, and industry analysts. First issued in 1986, the book is more significant than ever. In this edition, Strohmeyer includes an update on steel today.

Library Journal

Pulitzer Prize winner Strohmeyer was editor of the newspaper in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for 28 years, a period of decline for American steel. In his analysis, when new technology and competitors came on the scene, a complacent steel industry and its unions ignored ominous signs. The industry failed to adopt new technology on time, allowed management ranks and perquisites to grow too fat. Unions won rigid work rules as well as high pay. He witnessed cost-cutting measures that came too late, and the suffering of managers, workers, and communities due to layoffs and plant shutdowns. The book is thoughtful, fair, and highly readable, though not definitive. His documentation of the self-indulgence common a decade ago at top levels of big industry is fascinating, but his case against union ``rigidity'' is less documented. Frieda Shoenberg Rozen, Labor Studies, Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, Pa.

What People Are Saying

Daniel Schorr
A fascinating close-up view of what ails a great American industry. Authoritative, but eminently readable, it has the makings of a saga of the American economy.

Read also The All American Cookie Book or Notably Nashville

Wages of Wins: Taking Measure of the Many Myths in Modern Sport

Author: David J Berri

“When I read the book, I was impressed by the amount of effort that went into compiling the reams of data that underlie the work…The fundamental case the authors make is that the statistical analysis shows that the conventional wisdom about sports is dead wrong—that the data as the put it, “offers many surprises.”—Joe Nocera, The New York Times

“In The Wages of Wins, the authors attempt to puncture some popular myths—saying that payroll and wins are not highly correlated, and that in baseball, football….attendance hasn’t been significantly affected by players strikes or owner lockouts.”—Sue Kirchhoff, USA Today
“In The Wages of Wins, the economists David J. Berri, Martin B. Schmidt, and Stacey L. Brook set out to solve the Iverson problem. Weighing the relative value of fouls, rebounds, shots taken, turnovers, and the like, they’ve created an algorithm that, they argue, comes closer than any previous statistical measure to capturing the true value of a basketball player. …Looking at the findings that Berri, Schmidt, and Brook present is enough to make one wonder what exactly basketball experts—coaches, managers, sportswriters—know about basketball.”—Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker

Table of Contents:

List of Figures and Tables     vii
Preface     xi
Preface to the Paperback Edition     xv
Games with Numbers     1
Much Talking, Little Walking     11
Can You Buy the Fan's Love?     30
Baseball's Competitive Balance Problem?     46
The NBA's Competitive Balance Problem?     69
Shaq and Kobe     90
Who Is the Best?     116
A Few Chicago Stories     146
How Are Quarterbacks Like Mutual Funds?     172
Scoring to Score     201
Notes     227
References     269
Index     279