Home / News & Events / What Ichiro's Departure Says About Loyalty and the Employer-Employee Relationship

Recent Posts Tags

abe farkas, aging, andrew dyke, anne fifield, awards, bbc, beavers, bend, beth goodman, blight, bryce ward, bureau of labor statistics, business continuity, business insider, california, casino, chalkboard project, city of beaverton, city of portland, climate change, coal, composting, coquille indian tribe, corporate news, demographics, early education, economic development, economic growth, economic impact, economic recovery, econorthwest in the news, ecosystem services, ed macmullan, education, ed whitelaw, employment, eugene, evergreen state college, facebook, fire fighting, graduation rate, green infrastructure, hazard mitigation, hbo, higher education, housing, idaho, intel, issue brief, jobs, kelly smith, kevin e. cahill, klcc, lorelei juntunen, mark buckley, mccloud, mt hood, new mexico, new york times, nike, oil and gas drilling, olympia, op-ed, oregon, oregonian, oregon public broadcasting, oregon state university, peripheral canal, pers, portland, portland business journal, portland tribune, presentations, public appearances, public benefits, public pensions, redevelopment, register gaurd, retirement, robert whelan, seattle, social security, superfund, sustainability, tapogna, terry moore, the atlantic, the intertwine, thurston county, unemployment, university of oregon, urban and regional planning, value of jobs, washington, water resources, web applications, west hayden island, wildlife, wilsonville, workforce training

What Ichiro’s Departure Says About Loyalty and the Employer-Employee Relationship

Posted on July 25, 2012 in Labor, Employment, & Workforce Development by Ann Hollingshead

In a recent op-ed to the Seattle Times, Senior Economist Dr. Kevin Cahill shows what baseball can teach us about the economics of retirement.

Dr. Kevin E. Cahill, ECONorthwest senior economist, today published the opinion piece "Ichiro and the Employer-Employee Relationship" in the Seattle Times. It reads:

MY brother, Brian, has been a Mariners fan since 1983, when he was just 13 years old. Brian called me on Monday night with the news. "Can you believe they traded Ichiro after 11 years with the Mariners?" His voice then stopped. After a long pause he said, "I've had it. I've had it with this team." It's an empty threat, but my brother is hurting, and his comments are understandable.

Separation is never easy, and it shouldn't be. Unfortunately, it is now ingrained in our culture. Don't like your spouse? Get a divorce. Don't like your job? Quit. That also means that if your spouse doesn't like you, you're out of luck, and if your employer doesn't like how you're performing, you're fired. And, sadly, if you're an aging baseball player, you're traded (or you ask to be traded). Ichiro went to the Yankees.

All I can offer my brother and other die-hard Mariners fans is some insight as an economist.

The rest of the peice is available here.

Dr. Kevin E. Cahill specializes in the economics of aging, labor and health economics, and statistical methods. He is a senior economist and the managing director of ECONorthwest's new office in Boise, Idaho. Read more about ECONortwest's expanding presence in Idaho.