Comments on: TCS: Applying Free Market Logic to an Unfree Market

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Wed, 22 Dec 2004 19:04:11 +0000

Well, no. Demand is a key variable to markets--and it's an economic variable. It's no different than Brioni being able to charge $4000 for a $500 suit because people are label snobs.

By: A Stitch in Haste

A Stitch in Haste — Wed, 22 Dec 2004 17:50:49 +0000

"Buy Me Some Peanuts and...a $432.5MM Stadium" If the stadium has to rely on such ephemeral, de minimus selling points as "increased rooting," then that's a pretty clear sign that the project, qua public undertaking, is destined to be a dud.

By: KipEsquire

KipEsquire — Wed, 22 Dec 2004 17:43:28 +0000

If sports leagues have the leverage to demand public financing of stadia as a precondition for moving a franchise to a city, they would be foolish not to use it. You have it exactly backwards -- it's the very fact that the teams have no economic leverage whatsoever that compels them to rely instead on political leverage and campaigns of ignoring (or distorting) the economic realities of stadium finance, which are never on their side.

By: Bithead

Bithead — Wed, 22 Dec 2004 16:57:02 +0000

What the peice... and the libertarians, seem to miss is the huge amount of busiensses and the tax revenue they bring to an area when a Stadium goes up, by and large.

Witness, as an example the Southtowns of Buffalo, where the Bills' stadium is.

OTOH, when the stadium is used to rebuild an area of town... say, as it was in the case of Baltimore, or here in Rochester, the results are not nearly as good, nor long lasting.

By: SportsBlog

SportsBlog — Wed, 22 Dec 2004 16:18:45 +0000

TCS: DC Stadium Fiasco
My latest Tech Central Station piece, "Applying Free Market Logic to an Unfree Market," tackles the D.C. stadium fiasco. The upshot: While libertarians rightly bemoan the notion of forcing taxpayers to subsidize wealthy team owners, they should under...