J.C. Bradbury
Economist, Georgian, Gadfly
Stadium Subsidies, Film Incentives, Local Economic Development, Sports Economics
Tariffs bad. Vaccines good.
Conjecture is not evidence.
jcbradbury.com
Book website: ThisOneWillBeDifferent.com
- This new Republican fixation with eliminating certain taxes without connecting it to government spending or operations is untethered to reality. They're all pandering schemes that are just as harebrained as anything put forth by radical socialists they claim to decry.
- "We're going to end the [income/property/sales] tax, which will grow the economy to make us rich, Rich, RICH!"
- Question for the media: Who is Steve Robb of Municipal Consulting, and why is he qualified to do such an analysis? What are his methods, and what is his track-record on past projects? An internet search indicates he's just some random guy with no credentials whatsoever.
- You know, I get it. I'm the guy who reads the sources in the footnotes, and then follows the sources in those footnotes. But seriously, can you not Google "Steve Robb Municipal Consulting"? letmegooglethat.com?q=Steve+Robb...
- Great moments in bothsidesism. Writing "Such studies are often debated by economists" is like saying, "Doctors often debate the claims of anti-vaxxer posts on Reddit." Commissioned forecasts, which aren't "studies," are not debated, economists universally dismiss them as quackery.
- Treating what is obviously propaganda as a reasonable alternate perspective is not objective reporting, it's falling for a ruse and lending credibility to an intentionally deceptive argument.
- We've learned where the Tampa Bay Rays plan to get the $1.2 billion in taxpayer money to build it a new stadium. A key source would be a county sales tax that voters already approved *with the explicit understanding that it would not be used for a stadium.*
- Several commissioners seem to have enough of a moral compass to reject this idea; but, of course, Ken Hagan remains a shameless stooge for the team. His retort to this ethical dilemma: BUT BASEBALL!
- His crony on the commission Harry Cohen defended the plan with a factually incorrect retort. Paying for the stadium now would prevent having to pay an expansion fee letter. Guess what: OWNERS PAY THE EXPANSION FEE, NOT THE HOST CITY. (A clarification not included in the story.)
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View full threadOh, and that's not all for the taxes. In addition to raiding revenue from a source that commissioners promised would not be used for a stadium (reminder: informal assurances are not legally binding) the team proposes a new hotel tax and a stadium district tax.
- The Rays "belong in Tampa Bay"... Please, it was the Rays who backed out of a deal to give the team $600 million of taxpayer money for a brand new stadium. Now the owners are demanding double that. "The Rays need more welfare" is the appropriate slogan.
- My article (with @bradhumphreys.bsky.social ) "Yes, There is an Economic Consensus That Professional Sports Facilities are Inadvisable Public Investments" is now published in Economic Development Quarterly. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
- I'm going to rip my hair out. For the millionth time: It doesn't matter where the taxes are collected, but where they come from, which is reallocated from existing local tax collections. Folks, we have to elect better people. This is either negligence or incompetence.
- Bond default risk is irrelevant when you've already dedicated a large enough revenue stream to pay them off. You don't have to worry about defaulting on a mortgage after you already paid for the house. What "City staff confirmed" doesn't inform the policy question.
- There's a reason why government bodies don't invite real economists to speak at these forums. They know the reality, and they don't want anyone else to hear it. It's the job of the media to relay this important information.
- STOP just saying uninformed things like this. Nashville's last mayor basically ended his political career by backing the unpopular Titans stadium. CLT has committed ~$900M to renovating NFL & NBA venues. Neither city has money or political capital to subsidize an MLB ballpark.
- Don't naively assume there are a lot of credible relocation cities out there willing to bankroll new venues for teams. There's not. If they existed, we'd know about it. There's no need to discuss hypothetical moves. Until there's a hard deal on the table, it's just cheap talk.
- Don't want to take my word for it? Well, how about John Sherman's? When Charlie Finley moved the A's, he called KC "a hick town [that] don't deserve big-league baseball." Sherman is just trolling for tax dollars. kansascity.com/sports/spt-c...
