PolicyGuy

Tuesday, December 28, 2004


More Pro-Sports Subsidies Follies.
Writing for Tech Central Station, James H. Joyner, Jr., examines the stadium-financing fiasco that may (or may not) befall Washington, DC.

He reviews the standard arguments against taxpayer financing of playgrounds for the rich and famous, but also adds some noteworthy comments from sports-industry types who know the truth:

We all know that stadiums rarely spur economic development. We all know they often don't lead to success in the standings (the Brewers have finished fourth, last, last, and last since Milwaukee's new stadium opened). The only guarantee to a new stadium is the profits it generates for the owners.

It is true, as Joyner says, that there are a limited number of high-level professional sports teams. This does not, in itself, make the desire to spend taxpayer dollars foolishly anything new. (Many economic development projects come to mind.) It just happens that the "product" sold by this small group of private business owners is highly visible and tied up with civic pride, community identity, and personal fantasies of athletic achievement. As a result, the usual rationale for handouts--economic development--is only a secondary player.

"Justice Louis D. Brandeis'?s metaphor of the states as "laboratories" for policy experiments ... had almost nothing to do with federalism and everything to do with his commitment to scientific socialism. .... To this day, it continues to inhibit a truly experimental, federalist politics." -- Michael S. Greve

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