From: "Gary Britt" 

If a sports stadium was built for a private organization in order to try
and keep that organization in business, I would agree that it would be the
same as making a direct loan to a failing company to try and keep it in
business.

Regarding sports stadiums, in the US they are done by local governments and
not the federal government.  I believe that makes a huge difference.  I
believe local communities should be free to partner with a business if the
electorate believes it is an appropriate and good expenditure of local tax
dollars.  I agree with you that sometimes the economics of these deals from
the city's point of view haven't worked out, but most cities in America,
rightly or wrongly, consider such a matter of local pride and future
economic growth to have a NFL team and MLB team they are willing to incur a
short term loss for long term growth.  Having an NFL team in a city does
make a difference, not just with hotel and restaurant stuff at times of the
games, but with businesses and employees of businesses' willingnes to
relocate to a city that does have things like an NFL team versus a city
that doesn't.  These things are done on the local level as business joint
ventures in effect, and I don't think its socialist at all.  It may not
turn out to be good business, but it isn't socialist.

Gary


"Dave Ings"  wrote in message
news:4117f596{at}w3.nls.net...
> Ok, how about grants or subsidies? As in sports stadiums. Very common in
the
> United States. Drives me nuts, because people in Canada point at that in
the
> US and say we have to "do likewise" with my Canadian tax
dollars in order
to
> "compete".
>
> In fact in New York (where I currently live) as I type there is a huge
> debate about using hundreds of millions of dollars of public money to
build,
> of all questionable public goods, a bloody sports stadium on the est side
of
> Manhattan.
>
> I don't like "socialism" any more than apparently you do,
but I think the
> claim (which I believe you are making), that in the US inappropriate
> government subsidies of private enterprise is rare, simply doesn't hold up
> to scrutiny. It may be less in the US than elsewhere, it may be delivered
by
> different mechanisms than elsewhere, but I believe it is still all too
> common.
> --
> Regards,
> Dave Ings,
> Toronto, Canada
>
> "Gary Britt"  wrote in message
> news:4117f39f{at}w3.nls.net...
> > I'm not saying that couldn't happen John.  What I'm saying is that in
> > general we don't loan companies money and the loans to the airline
> industry
> > immediately after 9/11 were defense expenditures not a socialist
> government
> > seeking to prop up an inefficient company.
>
>

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