Really Bad Ideas Spread, Like Herpes

Really Bad Ideas Spread, Like Herpes

My friend Eric Scheie over at Classical Values has a rather long piece that starts out about preservation of a beautiful old fire station in Philadelphia, then moves rapidly into a discussion of the economics of cities building sports stadiums and convention centers--and points out what many troublemakers have been pointing for a number of years: these projects are always pitched to the voters as ways of promoting economic development--but they don't work.

Of course, once one city screws up and does this, other cities decide that they need to do likewise in the hopes of getting their share of the sports team and convention business. Special interests in the area of the proposed development make out like bandits on these projects, while taxpayers as a whole get looted--and business in other parts of the city are the usual losers.