Professional sports stadiums should be privately funded and owned.

Thanks, Con, for joining me in debate. I'll now wipe the tears from my eyes (due to my fear that the Vikings, like the Lakers and North Stars, may leave Minnesota for greener pastures) and I'll argue: 1. Con's criterions (a 'positive externality' or a 'negative externality') for granting public subsidies and imposing taxes are unlimited and, therefore, will increase political intrigue and corruption. If Con's criterions were adopted as public policy by the State of Minnesota, the city of St. Paul's population would double overnight. Lobbyists for all types of financial enterprises (private profit seeking businesses, non-profits, etc.) would, like a plague of locusts, descend upon the Capital to beg for subsidies or tax increases from their favorite politicians. Enterprises would seek subsidies or tax increases or decreases to gain a favorable competitive advantage. Political intrigue and corruption would increase dramatically. Regarding my claim that Con's criterions are unlimited, consider this example of a 'positive externality' from today's Parade Magazine: " Why should tax dollars go toward helping addicts whose own decisions have gotten them into trouble? rs are already going to the problems that addicts cause -- whether it's homelessness, the record number of inmates we have locked up in this country, the toll drunk driving takes on innocent people, or other socioeconomic problems." http://www.parade.com... Regarding the "external problems" - chemical addictions - consider the following illustrative situations: To battle chemical addictions, the Hazelden Foundation could seek a public subsidy to build another facility. And it could threaten to leave Minnesota if the politicians refused the subsidy. What politician would dare to refuse Hazelden's request? Of course, competing treatment facilities would also expect to receive a subsidy comparable to whatever Hazelden received. There is no limit to the number of potential subsidy requests for the purpose of battling addictions. To further battle chemical addictions, laws could be enacted which would establish a new industry - "addiction bounty hunters." The bounty hunters would cruise the state looking for intoxicated people to admit to the new treatment facilities which resulted from the public subsidies granted above. Why, the public subsidy of addiction bounty hunters would also attack the current problem of unemployment. And, of course, there are other addictions that could be battled through public subsidies and increased taxes. Why should public policy privilege only chemical addictions 1 Con's criterions are bad public policy because they are unlimited and their adoption would result in increased political intrigue and corruption. 2. Con's cited articles provide very little support for his argument: In fact, the experts quoted are more critical, than supportive, of public subsidies for sports stadiums: Prof. Bill Beyers, an expert on economic impact studies: "To warm up his audience, Beyers held a "pop" quiz. "I'm going to give you three different percentages for the economic impact of sports on the local economy, and you raise your hand for what you think is the right answer," he said. "Ten percent." (A good number of hands rise.) "One percent." (A majority of hands are held high.) "One-tenth of one percent." (Hardly a hand in the air.) "The correct answer is 1/10th of one percent, and even that is probably overstating it," Beyers told the crowd." http://www.washington.edu... Richard Conway, co-author with Beyers on four economic impact studies: "Looking at new money only, the economic impact of teams such as the Seahawks and the Mariners begins to shrink. In 1995, the football team's out-of-state revenue generated $66.7 million in local economic activity. The impact of that money amounted to 1,388 jobs in King County. The Mariners' out-of-state funds generated only $42.9 million and 427 jobs according to a 1993 study Beyers and Conway did for the team. "Compare this to Boeing, a corporation with 99 percent of its impact in new money," says Beyers. "It's new money generates $25 billion in direct economic activity. The scale is totally different." Research institutions such as the UW and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center foster more economic growth too, since they bring in hundreds of millions in new money, Beyers adds, far more than professional sports (see Economic Impact Chart)." "Looking at the sports jobs that are created with new money, there is another hitch. Almost none of these positions are "family wage" jobs. "A major portion are day-of-game and relatively low wage jobs," Conway says, such as parking attendants and food vendors. "It's not a lot of job generation," Beyers says. There are approximately one million jobs in King County. "You don't make public decisions about having enterprises like this in our midst on the basis of job creation." http://www.washington.edu... Professor Richard Zerbe - quality of life considerations -: "You have to remember that the Mariners, Sonics and Seahawks are not just enjoyed by the fans in the stadium," adds Conway. "There are hundreds of thousands of fans who watch them on TV and listen to them on the radio. Think about that enjoyment. That has a value." But measuring that value is close to impossible. Public Affairs Professor Richard Zerbe, an economist who does cost benefit studies, says his field defines a public good as an element the normal market system can't value. Classic examples of public goods are pollution control and national defense, he explains." http://www.washington.edu... Political Scientist Bryan Jones: " Political Scientist Bryan Jones is skeptical about pro sports and the economy. For many years he has studied plant siting decisions by the automotive industry, and he says cities that outbid others for new plants never reached the economic goals they promised. "No one has ever found one economic impact statement that matches the reality once the plant is open. The estimate of tax revenue was always overblown," he states. Jones sees many similarities in the pressures sports franchises place on communities." http://www.washington.edu... I respectfully contend that Con's argument from a "positive externality" is weak at best. __________________________ 1. " The term "addiction" is used in many contexts to describe an obsession, compulsion, or excessive psychological dependence, such as: drug addiction (e.g. alcoholism, nicotine addiction), problem gambling, crime, money, work addiction, compulsive overeating, credit card addiction, compulsive debting, computer addiction, video game addiction, pornography addiction, television addiction, etc" http://en.wikipedia.org...