What do Anthony Davis and I have in common?

A unibrow?

No, not yet at least.

A desire to get as far away from Coach Cal as possible?

Hmmm, maybe

That we serve as unpaid labor for a cartel that makes many millions every year?

Ding ding ding! We have a winner.

Anthony of course was a prisoner of the NBA rule that players cannot enter the League until a year after their high school class graduates. He spent the last year making millions for the University of Kentucky, ESPN, and the NCAA in return for room & board.

I of course am an idiot! As the Economist points out:

In 2011 Elsevier, the biggest academic-journal publisher, made a profit of £768m ($1.2 billion) on revenues of £2.1 billion. Such margins (37%, up from 36% in 2010) are possible because the journals’ content is largely provided free by researchers, and the academics who peer-review their papers are usually unpaid volunteers.

I have published in several Elsevier journals (Journal of Monetary Economics, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Journal of International Money & Finance, European Journal of Political Economy) and referee frequently for them and many other Elsevier outlets.

In my defense, I do macro and development. the JME and the JDE are the top outlets for my work.

At least Elsevier could hold some kind of tournament and let the winning researchers wear giant t-shirts and cut down the nets!