Course Description: This course is a fun way for undergraduate baseball fans to use the special case of baseball to begin thinking critically about important economic concepts with broader real-world implications. In the first part of the course, we examine MLB’s legal monopoly, their ownership cartel, and compare American sports’ competitive balance (‘Socialist’) model to European Soccer’s promotion / relegation (‘Capitalist’) model. The next section covers baseball’s labor market, where we learn how the combination of wage suppression and the quantifiability of performance in the post-Moneyball era has allowed for superstar markets to emerge. We’ll conclude by questioning whether baseball’s quest for efficiency has harmed the sport, drawing parallels to capitalism and well-being more broadly. Ultimately, students are encouraged to think open-mindedly and critically about our beloved game through the eyes of an economist.