Question: If a person had $1 billion to spend to improve the local economy what would you do?
a) Build a $500,000,000 engineering school, and put $500,000,000 into government bonds which would provide enough to pay 200 teachers $100,000+ per year.
b) Build a $1,000,000,000 factory and GIVE it to IBM, if they will staff it with engineers and production workers.
c) Build a stadium so people can get drunk and yell, that will sit unused for more than 90 percent of the time.
Anybody who really understands economics (like a government “official”) would pick C. After all, the stadium would create so many wonder “full time jobs.”
Like ticket vendor/ ticket checker … eight days a year. Hot dog and other junk food vendor … eight days a year.
Beer vendor … eight days a year. Clean up crews to pick the trash … eight days a year.
Where are the gutless local economists who should be speaking out?
Bill Schwenker lives in San Diego. What’s your thought on a new stadium? Log it here.